Out of Sight
by PCGirl
Summary: Finished! Starts almost 2 years after Homecoming ended. Being out of sight doesn't mean out of mind, and not all danger is unexpected or unplanned. Contains mainly the children of PC.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Unless it is needed otherwise, this disclaimer is to cover the entire story—from the first word until the last period. All characters and locations are property of ABC/Disney—unless they were never mentioned on Port Charles before October 3, 2003—then they are my property—as is the entire idea of the story.

A/N: I had a free afternoon and this just popped itself out for you all to read. I'm still uneasy about this story—I know the ending and I just have to keep telling myself it's going to be ok. Anyways—everyone please PLEASE enjoy this story. Until next time—ya'll are truly the best—PCGirl.

* * *

PC: 2022

_Oof_

"Come on—you can hit harder than that."

_Ooof_

"Is that the best you've got in you?"

_Pow_

"I've felt you hit me harder than that when I read your diary when we were ten, Katrina—now seriously hit me."

_Bam_

"Ouch—ok, now that's what I was talking about," grinned Eddie as he looked at his sister and held onto the punching bag for another hit.

_Bam_

"I—I think I've had enough for one night," she said as she took off her gloves and rested her hands on her knees, looking up at him after a moment, "So how did I do?"

"I think if something comes up, and you don't get distracted then you will definitely be able to defend yourself."

"And what if I get distracted?"

Eddie came over and put a hand on her shoulder, "You won't—trust me. Now let's go up to the apartment and get changed and head to the house for dinner," he said as he guided her to the circular stairwell that led to his new apartment.

He and Kate had been high school graduates for a whole week now—and as a present to Eddie he was given the old apartment above the gym as his new home—which made it easier for Rafe to stay home for a few extra hours in the morning and spend time with Alison and the baby—Gregory Samuel Kovich.

Kate's graduation present—well, that it was a little pricier—a two month trip across Europe with Tara—something that had been in the works for a year and a half, and the girls had to push their father's into agreeing with. There were stipulations, of course—starting with the itinerary had to be written in stone last December, and to all people they met along the way they were to introduce each other as Katrina Barrington and Tara Locke—if Rafe had someway of making their passports and visas say the same he would have done it.

Katrina was more than ready to get out of her father's eye for a few months, but she had confided in her brother—her best friend since the moment she was born—that she was scared if something happened to them, if somehow they were found out and attacked, that she would have no way of defending both herself and Tara. Eddie had been giving her defense lessons every free moment he could get—and he couldn't have been more proud of her now than ever.

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"Hey Da," said Danny as he heard his dad's voice on the other end—an ocean away, but as close as next to him at the moment.

"Hey—Rafe just called me," smiled Ian.

"Yeah? That was quick—I just got back from being over there."

"Is it safe to talk?"

"If you are asking if Christina is here—no, she's out shopping with Lucy."

"Like mother, like daughter, huh?" laughed Ian.

"Yeah—so is there going to be a problem with Kate mailing it from England when she gets there in a few days? I'm just scared that if I had it in my bags and they were searched she'll see it."

"No problem—it'll probably get here by the end of the week then. So you're ready to pop the big question, huh?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life—I think I was ready the first time I kissed her in New York. Wow—that seems like a lifetime ago now."

"Yeah, well I—I can't wait to see you two again," said Ian, suddenly at a loss for something better to say.

"Me too, Da—only a few more weeks until I finally get to show her Ireland, and finally get to ask her if she'll be my wife."

"I know your Mom would be proud of your choice—though she might have something to say about Julie being her biological mother."

Ian laughed, "I think it's the fact that Lucy is her adopted mother—either or isn't the best choice, is it?"

"Nope," laughed Ian. "Well, I'll let you go—I'll call you when the package gets here. Bye Daniel."

"Bye Da."

------------------

Caleb stood next to the wet bar, twirling a pen on the black marble as he listened to the person on the other end of the phone, "Yes, that's fine. And--," he stopped what he was going to say as he heard footsteps coming around the corner, "And tell your boss I will agree to this interview as long as my family is not brought up—is that clear?" he said as he turned to smile at Livvie walking in holding their little girl in her arms. He gave a smile and hung up the phone, "Hello Miranda," he said taking her from his arms.

"Dada," said Miranda as she locked her arms around his neck tightly—she had the darker hair and ocean blue eyes of Caleb—opposite of what he had always pictured Amelia to look like as she grew up.

Miranda was growing up so quickly it seemed—too quickly if anyone asked what he thought. It had seemed just yesterday they brought Tara home from the hospital, and in just a few short years she would be out on her own—completing her dreams and living her life to the fullest.

"Who was on the phone?" asked Livvie politely.

"A music magazine wants to do an article entitled, 'Whatever happened to Stephen Clay'. I was just making sure they agreed to my demands," he said rubbing Miranda's back as she finally pulled back and smiled at him, causing him to smile back, "Hey Princess."

"I was worried you were calling one of the hotels in Europe—you've been making a lot of calls there."

"Just want to make sure everything is safe for Kate and Tara—the last thing we need is either of their lives in jeopardy," he said bouncing Miranda softly and getting her to giggle lightly.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry for the delay—between a mild case of writer's block, and planning the wedding I wasn't up for much writing. Everyone enjoy! Until next time—PCGirl. 

* * *

"Dad--," grimaced Kate as she crossed her arms in front of him at the suggestion he had just made.

"What? All I asked was if you are sure you want to do this—I mean you don't have to go thousands of miles away from your family just to have a Senior trip," said Rafe as he stood in the terminal talking to Kate while Caleb and Tara stood not so far away talking to each other also.

"Everything is paid for, you made us go over than itinerary a hundred times, and I am going. Not even a sudden freak blanket of fog will keep me from getting on that plane in a few minutes—right Tara?"

"Right," grinned Tara as she then turned to look at her dad. "Don't worry about us, ok?"

"It's our job—right Slayer?"

"Right."

"Ok, just be careful—and remember to stick to the itinerary, call us every two days, and most importantly--,"

"Use the names Locke and Barrington," said the girls simultaneously and then burst out into laughter.

"This isn't a joke," said both father's in their sternest voice, causing their daughters to start another round of giggle fits.

"Sorry," said Kate as she looked down at her feet and regained her composure. When she looked back up at Rafe he was taken back—she looked just her mom did years ago, young and bursting with energy—he hoped that nothing would ever change that. Kate reached up and hugged her dad tightly around the neck, "I'll be fine Daddy—I love you."

"I love you too, Princess," he said, willing himself not to cry. He pulled back and smiled down at her, "Now go tell your Mom and siblings bye before you miss the flight."

"Not that would be a bad thing in your eyes," she laughed as he pushed her towards where the rest of the family was waiting. She first went up to Lizzie and straightened her hair before giving a smile and then they embraced for a hug, "I want you to have the best time with Leslie this summer, ok? I can't wait for us to stay up late and talk on and on about what we each did."

"Ok, but be safe—please?"

"I'll be fine," she said as she smiled at Eddie and gave him a quick hug. After dinner was over and he had gone home she had called him and they talked for hours about everything and nothing—he knew she just needed to get out the butterflies that had been in her stomach the past few days. Saying that he'd watch out for Mom and for her to never hesitate to call if he needed her—she knew she always had him to lean on.

As she pulled away he whispered something in her ear that caused her to laugh, "Never be afraid of kicking a little vampire butt if necessary." She just smiled at him and shook her head before going to her mom who was now holding Gregory, "Mama," she said through tears as she hugged her.

"Hey now—no tears, because I don't want to start crying here in the middle of the terminal. You two have fun, and enjoy this experience—neither of us ever had this chance at your age," said Alison as she smiled at her daughter and then looked at Livvie.

A few seconds later they heard the boarding call for their seats, "Go—before your father comes up with some tactic to stall you and make you miss the plane."

"Alright, I love you Mom," said Tara and Kate simultaneously and they began to laugh as they turned towards the gate.

As they got in their seats and relaxed while the plane taxied down the runway Tara looked over to Kate, "I can't believe they actually let us get on the plane."

* * *

Jasmine slammed the knife down on the table and sighed, lowering her head over the kitchen counter. It was happening again—the humming in her head, but when she closed her eyes to see something, there was nothing but a black void. It had been occurring for months now—irregularly and once the humming stopped she could visualize anyone she wanted to.

She walked over and grabbed the phone—maybe this time her sister would co-operate. It rang a few times and then she heard Myra's voice on the other end, "Hello sweet Jasmine."

"Hi—listen, can I talk to Cassandra?" asked Jasmine, trying to keep her emotions in check for the next few minutes.

"She's busy—can I leave a message?"

"Myra—don't lie to me, I can see her sitting on the couch watching one of those trashy soaps," she said as the humming quickly stopped and she was able to view her sister.

"Why don't you tell me what's going on—I'll be happy to relay the message."

"No, what I want to do is talk to Cassandra—now put her on the phone, or maybe I should just come pay both of you a visit."

"Oh please do—and bring sweet Noah and Leslie with you, I'd really like to get to know my niece and nephew. Oh wait—I forgot, do you have a relationship with her or not?"

"Yes, I have a relationship with my daughter, I love her very much."

"Right—ok, here's what we're going to do—the only way you are going to talk to

Cassandra is to come and see us face to face, so stop calling—it's getting desperate," she said with an evilness in her voice as she hung up the phone.

Jasmine was ready to scream at the top of her lungs—no, better yet she was ready to throw something against the wall and watch it shatter into a million pieces. She looked down the hallway to see where Jack and Noah were, but all she heard was silence so she hoped they were outside when she stared at her glass of water, finished it off and then threw it as hard as she could and watched it break.

Myra knew something—someone had been planning something the past few months, and Myra knew all about it. The outcome was going to be soon—Cassandra had probably already been seeing what was going to occur, slowly, bit by bit until everything exploded and then there would be nothing Jasmine could do except stand there in shock and defeat.

"No! No—I won't let you do this!" she screamed and fell to the ground. A moment later she felt him next to her, running his hands over her hair. She threw her arms around Jack's neck and continued sobbing and he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.

* * *

Rafe stood in the doorway of Kate and Lizzie's bedroom and stared off to space. He heard someone walking up the steps and looked to see Alison was joining him, "Hey."

"Hey—you ok?"

"She's really gone," he sighed.

Alison laughed, "She's only on a little trip."

"Yeah, but it's dangerous over there—you have no clue the nutcases out there that would cause harm to them if they knew they were mine and Caleb's."

"Rafe, I know you are worried about her little girl—but honestly you and Caleb have done everything possible other than chaperone the trip yourself."

"That's a great idea—why didn't you suggest that before they went on the trip?" he grumbled. He gave a loud sigh, "Am I really that bad about this trip?"

"Yeah, you are—I hate to think how you'll be when she gets married."

"We're going to let her do that?" asked Rafe as he finally began to smile and pulled Alison into his arms, "I have a right to worry."

"Yes you do—just don't over do it, ok?"

"I'll try—it's pretty hard though. It's almost as hard as not wanting you near me every second of he day."

* * *

She opened her eyes slowly—Jack was lying there facing her, running his hands down her arms, "Hey—you feel like something to eat?"

"No," she whispered. "What's wrong with me Jack?"

"Nothing—nothing is wrong with you. What happened earlier?"

"I heard that humming again—then the black void—and when I called Myra—she knows something, Jack. Something big. I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"Of our friends lives, or children's lives—us. I should be able to help us—I've always been able to, except for when JT came. Is he back? Did he somehow get to come back?" she said as her green eyes filled with tears and one came down her face as he wiped it away for her.

"No—it seems to me the only ones that can come back to life around here are Morley's and Kovich's," he laughed. "Just rest—do you want me to call Rafe or Caleb? Will talking to them help any?"

"No," she shook her head. "But I think I'll take up that offer for some food."

"I'll be right back," said Jack as he leaned in and kissed her forehead and left her alone, wishing he could say or do something that would make everything better. He hated seeing her like this—was calling Rafe the best option at the time? No, because the girls had already left for Europe—if something was going to happen, there was no turning back.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: First off—I hate that we can't use the dashes now for scene breaks. Grrr. I'll fix chapter 2 so it's easier to read later today. Second—I've never been to England so if it's stupid then please forgive me. Until next time—ya'll are the best—PCGirl.

* * *

Jack walked down the basement steps and over to the bar, pouring himself up a drink before slinking down into one of the chairs. He'd made sure Jasmine was sound asleep, and he knew Noah would be ok in his room for a bit before he'd start looking for one of his parents. He picked up the cordless phone and dialed Livvie's number, "Hey," he grinned as he heard her voice on the other end.

"Hey Jack," smiled Livvie. "How is everything?"

"It's—uhm, going pretty good. Are Leslie and Lizzie excited about the trip?"

"Yeah—but I'll warn you, you and Jasmine are going to have two very typical teenagers."

Jack laughed, "Just what I need."

"So how is Jasmine? She's usually the one that calls—not you."

"She's doing ok--," he trailed off, there had to be some way he could get Caleb on the phone without Livvie getting suspicious.

"Liar."

"Excuse me?"

"Jack Ramsey—I've known you for over twenty years now, and since day one I have been able to tell when you are lying, so spill it."

"It's nothing really—is Caleb there?"

"No, he's not so why don't you tell me what it is and I'll relay the message? Is it something about the girls—did Jasmine see something?"

Jack sighed, "That's just it—it's been happening for a few months now, she'll get this humming in her ears, but when she tries to see anything all she sees is black."

"Well, has she talked to her sister—Cassandra?"

"No, Myra won't let her. Myra knows what's going on, and that's what is scaring Jasmine the most of all. She's always felt she has to be the protector of all of us."

"You think she's going to run again?" said Livvie before she realized how that sounded, "Sorry—I didn't mean it like that."

"I doubt she will—it's just scaring her is all."

"Well, I'll tell Caleb this and have him call you afterwards," said Livvie as she hung up the phone and began to wonder if this new development might have the girls coming home sooner than originally planned.

* * *

Daniel walked into the living room to see Christina making dinner, "Hey—why haven't you started packing your art supplies yet? That always takes the longest."

"I know—I just decided to not bring them this time is all."

Daniel looked at her surprised, "Can I ask why?"

"I want to enjoy this trip—I don't want to be looking at everything and thinking about painting. If I start painting them I'm never going to stop and I'd really like to see the sights of Ireland. Especially Loch Ness," she said as Daniel began trying to suppress a laugh, "What?"

Daniel stopped grinned for a moment then bit his bottom lip, "Loch Ness is in Scotland."

She felt her face begin to turn read, "I knew that—I really did."

"I'm sure you did—and you are going to get to enjoy it all whether you bring your art supplies with you or not. I just know that if you don't bring them that when we get there we'll have to drive all the way to Dublin or somewhere else to buy more for you."

"You think you know me that well?"

"Yeah, I do," he said as he came over and wrapped his arms around her waist, "So will you go pack your supplies and just make me happy?"

"I'll do anything to make you happy," she said giving him a short kiss before handing over the reins of dinner preparation and went off to the bedroom.

"You've already made me happier than I could have ever imagined," he said softly—wondering if the girls had got the ring in the mail yet.

* * *

He ran a hand through his soft brown hair as he stood in line for a cup of coffee—the sky, as always in London, was threatening to rain. His thoughts were only one thing right now—what was Marius doing here? Marius had been lying low for months now—rarely leaving his home in Tubingin, and then all of a sudden last week he flew to London where he slipped back underground before Andrew had even arrived at Heathrow.

Andrew cleared his head of thoughts as the cashier asked him once again what he wanted, "Coffee—black," he said quietly and then having to repeat himself. He pulled out his wallet and handed off his money. He turned and began drinking—hoping the caffeine would clear his head so he could figure out what Marius was up to. When he got outside into the open air he felt something and stopped to figure out where it was coming from. A second later half of his coffee was spread between his shirt, shoes, and the ground.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry—are you ok?" asked the blonde with her hand on his shoulder, "You have to excuse my friend here—she doesn't always watch where she's walking," she said as she looked at her brunette friend next to her. Her eyes were the first thing Andrew noticed about her—they were this soft shade of blue, sweet and caring—trustworthy.

"Kate--," said Tara, now trying to keep from laughing.

"I'm fine—don't worry about me," he said as he took a napkin and wiped off his shirt sleeve of the excess coffee that had spilled. He gave a quick smile before walking off—mumbling about being an idiot.

Tara stopped talking and looked to see Kate still had her eyes on him, "Hey—Kate—anyone home?" she said waving her hand in Kate's face.

"Huh? What—did you say something?"

"Yeah—I said we better get to the Post Office."

"Post Office?"

Tara laughed, "Christina's engagement ring—a favor for Danny—is any of this ringing a bell?"

"Oh yeah—did you notice anything odd about him?"

"Him who—oh the guy that randomly stops in the middle of the sidewalk—no, not really."

"Oh—I guess it was just me then."

"Yeah, it was just you," she laughed as she shoved Kate forward before they ended up getting run over by pedestrians.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I hope this chapter doesn't sound boring—I feel like it's missing something but I'm not quiet sure what. Just to let ya'll know I'm going on hiatus from October 4th to the 20th or later—the wedding is October 9th. Hope I still have readers out there. Until next time—ya'll are the best (and your more than that if you're still reading this)—PCGirl.

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"So how does it feel to have only one child again?" asked Livvie as her and Alison walked through the mall pushing Miranda's and Gregory's strollers. Leslie and Lizzie had left the day before to go spend a month with Jasmine and Jack, and with Eddie living over the gym Gregory had his mother's full attention all day long.

Alison laughed as they turned into a new store, "Well, it's the first time I've actually only had one child—I mean I did have the twins first. Wow, I hadn't called them 'twins' in a long time."

"It's not like they are complete opposites of each other," she said as she took a look at a blue pillar candle, she took a sniff at it, and then looked at the bottom. When she didn't get a response from Alison she looked to see her grinning back, "What?"

"What's the bottom say?" laughed Alison at watching Livvie still looking at the bottom of a candle after all these years.

"$7.99—I just wanted to check the price is all," she said, as if she was completely clueless as to what Alison was implying. "Oh—what did Rafe think of Jasmine's problem?"

"What problem?"

"Jasmine's messed up visions—Jack called Caleb and I answered, she's getting this weird humming in her ears, but when she tries to see anything all she sees is blackness."

"That's odd—are you sure Caleb and Rafe already talked about it between each other?"

"Yeah, Caleb told me they did the other day."

"Oh—I wonder why Rafe didn't mention it to me. I guess everything is ok though—I mean they haven't forced the girls to return home yet," said an uneasy Alison.

---------------

Daniel looked next to him at Christina who was staring out the window as they drove through the Irish countryside. He could see the wheels turning in her head—trying to figure out the exact amount of paint to create the same shade of green on the canvas, or the purple of the flowers. He gave a slight chuckle as he turned off the main road and onto the dirt path that led up the hill, "We're almost there."

"It's gorgeous out here—did I mention that yet?"

"Only a hundred times," smiled Daniel as he pulled his rental car up to the cottage style home that was surrounded by gardens.

"This is it?" she said getting out of the car but standing at the door. The front door opened and out walked Ian, smiling from ear to ear and squeezing past him came an old dog—at first unsure on greeting Christina, but then when spotting Daniel he had a running gallop to him.

"He knows who his master is," laughed Ian as he came over and gave Christina a big hig and kiss on the cheek, "Welcome to Ireland, lassie. Daniel—you going to introduce Christina to your friend over there?"

Daniel peered up from kneeling on the ground, rubbing his hands over the dog, "This is Bailey—he's been my dog for the past ten years—I wanted to bring him to Port Charles with me, but Da said he's so used to having all the land he wants to roam that he would go crazy stuck in the apartment."

"Not that he does much running these days," laughed Ian. "Well, let's get you two inside and settled in before dinner," he said as he opened the trunk of the car and began grabbing bags and suitcases along with Daniel. They had gone inside and Christina was still taking in everything.

"Hey—you coming in?" smiled Daniel from the upstairs window as he watched her—realizing that he was now one step closer to asking her to become Mrs. Daniel Thornhart.

--------------

Alison walked down the stairs to see Rafe sitting on the floor playing with Gregory. She smiled as she sat down on the couch behind him, "Why didn't you tell me about Jasmine?"

"What about her?" asked Rafe as he turned his head to look at Alison. 

"The visions and the humming—I mean it would have been nice to know at least that she was having trouble."

Rafe completely turned around now and soon had Gregory standing up holding onto his back as he tried to play with his Dad, "What visions? What humming? This is the first I've heard about it."

"But Livvie—Caleb told Livvie you two had talked it over and figured everything out already."

"Well, Caleb is lying--I haven't talked to him in days, and when I did Jasmine's name never came up," he sighed as he stood up and got a small whimper out of Gregory that playtime was over.

"Where are you going?"

"To talk to Caleb and figure out what is going on," he said as he went to get his shoes.

"Ok," said Alison as she picked up Gregory and went to the stairs again, taking a look back as Rafe left the house before putting her attention back on Gregory.

----------------

Livvie stopped at opening the door and looked at Miranda in her arms, "What is your Daddy up to, sweetheart?" she said softly as she walked inside and saw Caleb sitting on the couch. "Hi," she said as he got up and gave her a kiss.

"How was the shopping? Did you two enjoy your day with Alison and Gregory?" he asked Miranda who was half asleep but reached for her Daddy's arms.

"She and Gregory were asleep after the second store," she said with a laugh. "You want me to put her down for her nap?"

"No, I'll do it," he said as he went in the other room.

Livvie wished for a second he hadn't been home—that she had the chance to call Jack and see if Caleb had called him like he said, but she was going to have to ask Caleb with nothing but her own insecurities. She took a deep breath as he walked back in, "Caleb—we need to talk."

"About--?"

"Why you lied to me—why you said you and Rafe had talked about Jasmine's visions, or lack of them."

Caleb's mouth opened, "I wasn't lying—we talked."

"Well, he never told Alison. And don't you dare say it—don't you dare say he wouldn't tell Alison. They tell each other everything—Everything Caleb! I thought we had that too—am I wrong? Are you still keeping a secret from me?"

Caleb stood there for a moment before he began to speak—his words sharp and not losing eye contact with Livvie, even when she tried to look away, "Where did this come from Olivia? Where is the trust? Has this been for nothing? Have we raised three children, lost one, and been through our own battles in the past twenty something years for you to not have any trust in me?"

"I—Caleb—let me speak. I trust you--."

"Then don't accuse me of anything."

"Fine—I won't," she said as she stormed out of the room and a few minutes later she heard the front door close.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Ok, there was going to be another set of scenes, but I'm going to rewrite them for the next chapter--I just want to give you all one last chapter to read before I am officially a married woman. LOL. I'll be back the 20th or later. Ya'll are great--really you are. :) Until next time--PCGirl.

* * *

"Isn't it beautiful here?" sighed Tara as she stood at the railing of the Eiffel tower and looked out onto the city below. "I can see why they say it's romantic," she sighed.

"Yes, it is," said Kate as she looked behind her again, expecting to see someone standing there watching both girls.

"I wish we could stay in Europe forever, and never go home. You know I was thinking—hey, you ok?" asked Tara as she looked at her friend looking around and began looking herself.

"I'm fine, I just got that feeling again is all. As for living in Europe forever—I'd start to miss Port Charles—I mean that's our true home."

"I know—it's just that Port Charles can be dull at times."

"Dull? We've got vampires, werewolves, and angels living around us and you say that's dull," laughed Kate.

"You know what I mean," glared Tara. "I just wish we could get off this beaten path for a bit—not have to follow the itinerary to the letter."

Kate's head turned quickly to look at Tara, "Uh uh. No way. I am not even going down that path—worn or untreaded on."

"Come on—you are no fun."

"You want no fun? Think of the reaction we'd get out of our families if we did that," she said as Tara began to laugh at the thought.

---------------

"_Let's see what's next—to Kate from Tara," said Alison as she picked out a Christmas present from under the tree and handed it to her daughter. "Livvie?"_

"_To Tara from Kate," she smiled as she sat on the floor with her two year old daughter and put the box in front of her daughter and watched Tara quickly rip the paper and throw it behind her and her mom. Livvie took off the lid and pulled out a red sweater and red and black plaid skirt and tights. She started laughing, "Kate—open yours."_

_Kate ripped into the box and threw open the lid and folded the tissue paper back gently, "Look Mom!" she said holding up a pink sweater and then pulling out a pink and black plaid skirt—identical to Tara's except for the color._

"_What is up with you two?" laughed Jack from behind the video camera as he scanned up to Livvie and Alison who were now laughing at each other._

"They grow up so fast," sighed Rafe as he walked into the Villa to see Caleb watching the Christmas video from years ago. "Things change in that time too."

"What are you getting at Slayer?" sighed Caleb as he paused the video showing Jack had centered the camera on Tara again.

"You—sitting here in the dark. Alone. But some things, well they never change—or you think they do and years later you realize that some people are still liars."

"Stop tip toeing around whatever you want to say and say it!" yelled Caleb.

"Easy boy. You used to be protective of your family—why not now? And friends too—especially Jasmine, who put everything on the line for us when her sister tried to destroy us. So why didn't you call Jack?"

"Because I'm still trying to figure it out—ok? It could be nothing more than the aging process for her with her gift—she's finally aging after hundreds of years, Rafe."

"I know that—you think I don't realize that? I'm going to call Jack tomorrow—what do you want me to say?"

"Ask him how Lizzie's doing—if he asks about Jasmine's problem, well—tell him we don't know, but hopefully it'll go away soon."

"Fine—one last thing and you can watch the rest of the video—if something happens to the girls and you are wrapped up in it, and you are wrapped up in Jasmine's problem too—believe me when I say the truce is over, Caleb."

Rafe paused at the top of the stairs and he heard Caleb whisper, "A ierta eu." But Rafe didn't ask him who or what he was asking forgiveness for—he figured he'd find out soon enough.

----------------

"Hello," said Eddie as he picked up the phone and spun around in his chair for a moment.

"Hey there," said Kate on the other end.

"Well, hello little sis," he said with a laugh. "How is—Paris?" he asked, pausing to take a look at the itinerary.

"It's beautiful—we're loving it so much we think we'll move here permanently," she laughed as she looked at Tara who was sitting on her bed with a book in hand and was now smirking at what Kate was saying.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, well it's better than the other idea Tara had."

Tara threw down the book, "Don't you dare tell him what I said. You know I was joking."

"I know and I won't," she said away from the phone.

"What'd she say?"

"That we should dump the itinerary and do our own thing."

"Katrina," said Eddie in a grown-up tone.

"Wow—look at that Tara, I just got goosebumps," laughed Kate. "Eddie—you just sounded like Dad when you said that." "And that's a bad thing?" 

"No, but don't worry—we're sticking to schedule. I can't talk long—I need to save my card minutes—I just wanted to say hi and goodnight."

"Well, goodnight little sis—I love you."

"I love you too, big brother," smiled Kate.

---------------------

Livvie had to blink when the bedroom door opened and the light spilled from the hall and onto the chair she was sitting in, "You finally came home."

Caleb heard the tone immediately and knew to take caution, "Yeah, I'm—I'm sorry I didn't call."

"It's ok—I can heat up leftovers. I was trying to make a dish that Delia gave me and Alison the recipe for, but it didn't turn out too well," she said as she got up and began to walk past him, but he stopped her by grabbing her arm and turning on the bedroom light, "What?"

"We need to talk," he said as he walked her backwards and closed and locked the door.

"I'm sorry about earlier—it's just that I don't want anything to happen to Tara, Caleb. She's the good parts of both of us—Michael and Tess, so to speak. If anything were to ever happen to her Caleb, and she weren't to act like our normal Sunshine—it would break my heart. Do you understand what I'm saying? That's why I questioned you Caleb—because I wanted to make sure you wouldn't want anything to happen to her either."

"Of course not—I never want her, Alex, or Miranda to ever be unhappy. I also need to watch out for my friends too—Jasmine is a friend," he said softly to himself.

"Of course she is—I mean I was upset with her about Leslie, but now she's such a great person to call and have listen to your problems. She's good about that—listening.. Did you figure out what is going on? Is that why you are home so late?" she said as he was quiet. "Caleb?"

"I don't know what's wrong with Jasmine yet, but I do need to find out—I'm moving into the Villa."

"You're what!" yelled Livvie and then realized if she didn't watch it she'd wake up both Alex and Miranda, "Say that again—I dare you."

"I'm moving out—it's the best thing for right now."

"Oh, is it? Did you happen to ingest some pumpkin soup tonight? Because you have completely lost it, and you are crazy if you think I'm going to let you walk out of our home without me," she said as he turned and walked out of their bedroom, down the hall and into the living room.

Livvie continued to follow him, and was about to beg him to stay when she heard Miranda crying from her bed, "I have to get her—please don't leave," she said as she went to check on her little girl, but when she returned to the living room Caleb was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hi! Well, I got this chapter put together pretty quick—maybe it was because I'm getting to a part of the story that I know what I want to happen next. That's always a good thing, right? I hope you all enjoy! Until next time—PCGirl.

* * *

Livvie sighed and rubbed her eyes before opening the door to the Gym. She hadn't slept the night before until she went and got Miranda and put her in the bed beside her, and then she fell asleep watching her little girl sleeping next to her.

When she opened the door she saw the place was empty except for Rafe and Eddie whose backs were both facing her. If she had been in a better mood she would have smiled at how their stances were exactly the same, but she wasn't in any mood other than figuring out why her husband didn't sleep in their bed last night. She slammed the door and watched them both jump, "Rafe—we need to talk—NOW!"

"Eddie, go upstairs," he said towards his son and then putting his gaze back to Livvie. He hadn't seen that look in her eyes in years—one of anger and distrust of anyone around. In the past she was usually ready to go after Alison for something, but this time it was him. "What is it Livvie?"

"I want to know what the hell you said to my husband last night!" she screamed quickly before the tears filled her eyes.

"Whoa—wait a second Livvie—I did nothing wrong last night. He was at the Villa, I stopped by, told him I was worried about Jasmine. He said he was still trying to figure it out—why?"

"You aren't telling me something, Rafe. What is it?"

"I'm telling you everything—honestly Livvie. What brought all this on?"

She rubbed her forehead and looked at Rafe before pacing, "He moved out last night—said he wanted to figure out what was going on with Jasmine and just walked right out. Said he wasn't moving back home until he figured it out. I lost him Rafe—why?" she said as she broke down into tears and sobs and Rafe could think of nothing else to do but give her a hug.

"Is everything ok down here?" called Alison as she walked down the steps to see Rafe release his hold on Livvie and her wipe her eyes. "What's wrong? Did something happen to our girls?" she asked as her heart jumped into her throat.

"No, it's nothing—as far as I know they're fine. I need to do some more errands today before I have to pick up Miranda from Lucy and Kevin's. I'll talk to you later, Ali," she said quickly as she walked out.

"I need to go after her," said Alison as she walked past Rafe, but was pulled back as he grabbed her arm. "Rafe--."

"Give her some breathing room, Angel—she'll be ready to talk later today or tomorrow."

---------------

"Good morning, Mom," said Leslie as she walked into the kitchen and saw her mom standing there facing the stove, her nails digging into the counter. "Mom? Are you ok?" asked Leslie, concern growing as she touched her mom's shoulder and it didn't relax. "Dad!" she began screaming as Lizzie and then Jack came running into the kitchen.

"Jasmine—sweetie," he said as he pried her hands off the counter and moved her to look at him. He watched the green eyes staring right back at him but there was no movement, no blinking. "Leslie, Lizzie—go check on your brother for me," he said softly to his daughter.

He waited a moment before he put his attention back to Jasmine. "Come back to me, Jazz—please. It's ok, it's going to be ok—why is this one so long?" he asked himself as he ran his hands over her hair. Suddenly he felt her jump and return to normal, "Hey—Morning, beautiful."

"What happened? God Jack—what is happening to me?" she said as the tears began to flow and she felt his arms come around her tightly.

----------------

"What are you looking at Dad?" asked Daniel as he sat at the kitchen table with his family and Christina.

"Hmmm?" said Ian as he looked back down at his plate, feigning innocence.

"You've been looking over here at me and Christina every few minutes smiling. Don't act dumb—pass the syrup, squirt," he said to his little sister Claire.

"Here—and don't call me Squirt. I'm nearly old enough to drive now."

"That's a scary thought," smiled Daniel as he felt a punch in his arm from her. "So what is it Dad?"

Ian looked at his son this time and just grinned, "I was just thinking how you two have changed—remembering when you were two little kids eating at the kitchen table with me and Lucy in the morning."

Daniel smiled at Christina who was now laughing, "My mom said the same exact thing the other day. What is it with you too?"

Ian shrugged, "I don't know. I guess neither of us ever thought that when you grew up you'd be together as a couple. It makes sense though I suppose."

"Yeah, it does," smiled Daniel as he looked at Christina and gave her a kiss.

-------------

"Were you a good girl for Grandma and Grandpa?" smiled Livvie as she squatted down to the floor where Miranda was playing with some blocks.

"She was a perfect little peanut," smiled Lucy as she put down a magazine on the table. "Is everything ok?"

"Hmm?" asked Livvie as she looked up to Lucy and her Dad. She knew her eyes gave her away and looked back down to Miranda, "Caleb moved out last night and I'm still unsure why. I had a bit of a yelling match with Rafe this morning—didn't do any good except put my emotions into more of a tailspin."

"Where is Caleb staying?" asked Kevin as he leaned forward to listen to her.

"He's at the Villa I suppose. He wants to figure out what is going on with Jasmine—or that's what he says," she said as she realized she'd just alarmed them with that comment. "It's nothing, well it's not nothing—she's been getting this weird humming in her ears the past few months that is blocking out any visions she can have. It's important to Rafe and Caleb to help her—I mean I'm not saying it's not important to me or Alison, you know? She's such a great friend for all of us, and I want everything to be figured out but--."

"You wish there was a way you could without Caleb leaving?" asked Kevin.

"Yeah, I mean it doesn't make sense," she said and then pausing before continuing, "So am I being selfish?"

"No, not at all sweetie, but instead of worrying about Caleb maybe you should take your mind off of that by focusing on Miranda and Alex right now."

Livvie smiled, "Thanks dad. I wasn't even going to ask for your advice, but what you just said makes all the difference."

------------------

"Dad?" asked Leslie in a hesitant voice as he closed the bedroom door to where he had just made Jasmine lay down for a bit.

"I'm sorry you saw that," said Jack as he pulled her in for a hug.

"What happened? Is Mom going to be ok?"

"I hope so. She's been having problems with her visions lately and it's just putting her in a trance for a bit and then she gets really tired. Your mom is going to be fine soon though—ok?" he said as fear crept back into his mind—this trance had been the longest one. If he had expected one to happen when the two girls were here he would have cancelled the trip and dealt with a disappointed daughter later. Instead now he had a worried daughter over her mother's safety.

-----------------

Daniel walked down the steps and around the corner to the kitchen where the smell of what he considered heaven was coming from, "What's for dinner?" he asked, putting his head over the shoulder of Maeve and smiling.

"I'm making Whiskey Chicken. It's almost ready if you want to go upstairs and tell Christina to come on down."

Danny stopped and furrowed his brow a bit while looking to see his dad walking in the room, "I was just up there and she's not there."

Ian thought for a moment before looking down next to the door and smiled, "Her art supply bag is gone—did she tell you she was going to paint any today?"

"But it's almost sundown—would she go out there now?" asked Maeve.

Danny laughed and slipped his shoes on quickly, "Definitely. Come along Bailey."

-----------------

"Here we are, Miranda—home sweet home," smiled Livvie as she carried her little girl in on her hip as she walked through the door. "Alex?" she called out but received silence and noticed the note next to the answering machine—_Mom, went over to J's to shoot some hoops. I'll be back by dinnertime. Love you—Alex._

"Well, it looks like it's just you and me," she said as she hit the play button on the machine and it told her she had two messages. The first was silence, except for a deep male sigh and then the click of the receiver—she closed her eyes and remembered what her dad had told her and waited for the second one to start.

"Hi Mom, Dad, Alex, and Miranda—Just wanted to touch base but I guess you all are all out for the afternoon. Our train leaves late morning tomorrow so I guess I will call you when we get to the hotel. I love you all—talk to you soon."

"Love you too, Sunshine," said Livvie softly as she looked at her other daughter who was grinning at hearing her sister's voice, "Was that Tara?"

"Taya," giggled the little one.

"Yep—now let's go see what we can fix for us and Alex for dinner," she said as she walked to the kitchen—forcing herself to think of her children at the moment and not Caleb.

----------------

Jack was back down in the basement again while Jasmine and the girls had gone out on a late afternoon shopping spree—it had been Jasmine's idea, to show Leslie that her mom was ok now. He clicked the phone on and dialed, smiling as he heard the sweet voice on the other end, "Hey Ali."

"Hi Jack," smiled Alison at his voice. "How is Jasmine?"

"She—uhm—she had a really bad morning, and Leslie walked in on it."

"Oh no—poor Leslie. Are her and Lizzie ok?"

"I'm hoping so. Is Rafe there?"

"Actually—no. He is still at the gym doing some research."

"Research?"

"Yeah, Rafe didn't know about Jasmine until yesterday, Jack. Caleb didn't think it was necessary to tell him."

"Well, that's Caleb for you," he sighed.

"It gets worse. After Rafe and Caleb talked last night Caleb moved out."

"He what!" spoke Jack, louder than he had planned.

"It's getting crazy Jack—I'm wondering if we just need to tell Tara and Kate to come home before something happens."

"It's going to be ok. I'm glad to know Rafe is working on something for Jasmine. Tell him to call me later tonight after your dinnertime—I'll stay up waiting on his call."

"Ok. Jack—give Jasmine and the girls a hug from me, ok?"

"I will—Bye," he said hanging up the phone as he tried to make up a reasonable explanation for the weird happenings lately.

----------------

He didn't have to walk far, just up the hill that the house nestled into. Bailey had trotted beside him the whole time, once in awhile finding a stick for Danny to toss. When they reached the top and saw Christina sitting on the grass with her paints out Bailey went running to greet her.

She gave Bailey a rub on the head as he returned it with wet kisses and looked back to see Danny walking up to her, "Sorry I didn't say anything—Claire was showing me something in her room and I looked outside at the sunset and just had to come paint it."

"Don't be sorry—I know how you are and that's why I love you," he said as he sat down next to her and gave her a kiss.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said as she stopped painting and just stared at the setting sun.

"Yes, it is," said Danny, though he was staring at her instead.

"I wonder what tomorrow will bring, not just to us, but to our families in Port Charles and to the girls," she said, placing Tara, Kate, Leslie, and Lizzie into their normal title of _the girls. _"I hope whatever it is that in the end it brings all of us happiness and peace. There's a bigger power out there, Danny—and it knows what is in store for us. Sometimes we see it coming, but other times—other times it's as hidden as the stars during the day."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I'm soo nervous about this chapter--hope you like it, there's no turning back now. Oh, and fyi--Veener means huntsman and Adlam means noble protector. Thanks to Gracie for giving me that page and for helping me with another item in the story ;) Everyone enjoy! Until next time--a very nervous PCGirl.

* * *

Rafe almost hung up the phone when he finally heard the other end pick up, "Hello?"

"Hey Rafe—sorry bout the hang up last night," said Jack as he walked outside and closed the sliding glass door behind him.

"No problem—how is everything there?"

"Good so far—she hasn't had any non-visions today."

"Good. Listen, I'm going to spend the day calling around with some connections I have over in Europe. Hopefully one of them might be able to figure it out," said Rafe as he messed with a pile of paperclips in the small little office he had at the Gym.

"Are you sure that's not the same thing that Caleb is doing?"

"Honestly, I have no clue what he's up to. There's something nagging at me—as if he knows more than he's saying."

"Do you think he's in on this? I mean isn't that kind of a stretch, Rafe?"

"I'm not sure of anything anymore--well, I'll call you later when I know of something more."

"Alright, take care Rafe."

"You too—take good care of Jasmine, she's one in a million."

"Don't I know it," grinned Jack.

----------------

Danny closed the door, making sure Bailey wasn't halfway out the door already. He had decided last night after dinner he couldn't wait another day—it was now or never. He gave a deep sigh and looked upwards, "Mom? I know you are up there—I guess that's something I've always been able to count on—being able to come out here and talk to you and receive some guidance. I'm doing the right thing today, I know I am—I guess I just want you to be watching me today. Watching me take what I think is the scariest step in my life. If you could—can you somehow make it so I don't slip and forget to say something to her—please?" he smiled as he heard the front door open and out walked Christina. "Hi."

"Hey—I thought you were talking to somebody."

"Yeah, just someone special that I know will always want to listen to my thoughts," he smiled as he looked upwards and then gave Christina a kiss before they began walking.

-------------------

"Marius—stop!" shouted Andrew as he came down the empty train car as he followed the man he'd been chasing for days.

Marius twirled around to face him, his black trench coat flaring behind him, "Oh—it's you, the little slayer that thinks he can take me out."

"I can, but first I want to know what you are up to—who is it you are chasing and why?"

"It's no concern of yours, trust me. As to why—let's say it was a request," he grinned at Andrew.

"A request—hmm? Well, sorry to burst your bubble but I don't think that's going to happen today," spoke Andrew as he reached behind him and pulled out a stake and moved closer.

"Silly child," was the only words Marius said as he threw his hand up and pushed Andrew to the back of the car, grabbing a hold of one of the seats to keep himself from being thrown into the next car. He was held there for a moment before Marius turned and walked calmly out of one car and into the dining car.

Andrew ran to catch up to him and froze—there, sitting and finishing up her meal, was the girl from before—blonde hair, blue eyes—and his heart stopped. This was no coincidence, whatever the _request _Marius had been asked to do deal with these two girls and Andrew realized it was his destiny to save them.

----------------

"Alright—it was good to talk to you again, Grayson. Thanks for doing this—I hope to hear from you soon" said Rafe as he hung up the telephone and looked to see his son watching him.

"Who was that you were talking to?" asked Eddie as he got down on the floor and did some cool down stretches from a kick boxing class he had just had.

"That was Grayson Adlam, a vampire slayer that lives in England."

"There are other slayers? I thought we were the last ones."

Rafe gave a slight laugh, "Last of the Kovich ones, Edward—there are other slayers in other parts of Europe. Grayson, myself and another slayer, Claus Venner, were all in training courses growing up. While I was, ahem—dead, Claus was killed in the line of duty. He had a son though—Grayson had heard that a few weeks ago he was in London, but he never paid Grayson a visit."

"What does that have to do with Jasmine though?"

"I'm not sure—he's a little older than you and though Grayson made sure he had the same training growing up that we did he's still a kid trying to avenge his father's death. Grayson took the role of second father to heart—he's just worried that the boy might do something stupid is all.

"Anyways, he has all his books with him, unlike mine that are in storage in Daia. He's going to look through them to find out any information he can—he's also going to get in contact with some other slayers that I was never cool enough to hang out with," he said with a wink.

"Slayers have cliques?" laughed Eddie at the thought.

"Yeah, which makes no sense since in the end we're all here for the same thing," he shrugged as he stood up from the desk and looked down at his son. "I'm going to go back home for dinner—you want to come?"

"Nah, I'm going to catch up on some reading of my own," smiled Eddie as he dad grabbed his address book and slipped it into his pocket before leaving for the night.

-------------

They had probably walked a good mile and a half away from the house now—Danny continually looking around, as if wanting a sign from above that now was the second. He took a look at the setting sun and decided it was now. "Hey—stop here for a moment."

"What is it?" she said as she looked back and him.

"Wow—you're gorgeous," he said as he noticed the way the sun was positioned behind her that she had an aura like an angel and he smiled. "I need to tell you something. Right now, Christina and it can't wait any longer. I remember the first time I saw you at the hospital when I returned to Port Charles—to realize it was you that had been in my dreams for so long.

"It's been two years since that day and since then I've learned to love you more each day. I love watching you when suddenly a vision to paint or sketch something comes to your mind and you won't stop thinking about it until you have it completed. I love how you are there everyday when I get home after having Chris be a slave driver everyday. It's our home Christina, and I was thinking maybe we could make it official," he said as he pulled out a small box from his pocket and opened it up. "I remember the day we decided our dating was a completion of a circle—but we were wrong, this is the completion. So Christina Collins—will you make me the happiest man on earth and marry me?"

Christina couldn't stop staring at the ring—a solitaire emerald in a platinum setting with two small diamonds on the side. She realized he'd stopped talking and wiped her eyes, "Did you say something?"

Danny laughed, "I asked if you would make me the happiest man and be my wife. So what do you say?"

"Yes, yes—a million times yes," she said as he put the ring on her and stood up. He had barely been up for a second when she threw her arms around him and caused him to lose his balance and they soon were lying on the grass laughing and hugging.

-----------------

Kate and Tara stood under the awning of the train station—it was right after dinner had ended when the train pulled into a station for a short stop so they had got out and walked around some. Kate looked at her friend and asked, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah—I guess so," said Tara as she looked behind them but saw nothing.

"We'll have more time to walk around the next stop in the morning," she said as she grabbed the handrail to get onto the train and pulled herself up. She turned to help Tara up and realized she wasn't behind her, "Tara? Tara!" she screamed as she saw her friend being pulled away from the train. She felt the train begin to move and jumped off, running towards the man and hitting him as hard as she could with her hand. He turned to look at her and she stood there, defiant as he father had been so many years ago, "Let go of her."

He gave her a slight smirk, "What—you think you can take me on?"

"I don't think—I know," she said as her eyes narrowed. She had never been certain about anything as she had at that moment, and without a stake or anything in hand she moved forward, ready for battle. A second later though she was being pulled backwards—she looked back and saw him, the guy from London. It was that day that had started everything—the feelings, the looking over her shoulder every so often. "Let go of me," she said as she tried to pull out of his grasp.

"No," spoke Andrew in a harsh, almost parental tone.

"I've got to save my friend's life," she said as she wriggled again and the grasp felt tighter.

"And I've got to save yours," he said as he pulled her away despite her arguments and screams for Tara as she watched her being taken off into the other direction.


	8. Chapter 8

"I will say it one last time—let go of my arm now," spoke Katrina through clenched teeth.

Andrew threw her arm to the side and glared at her, "Stupid American. You save their life and they aren't grateful one damn bit."

"I'll have you know I'm not stupid and I'm not grateful—now if you don't mind I have to go save my friend," she said directly to his face before passing him and going for the front door.

"It's too late—the person that has her is too strong for you."

"You don't know who I am or what I can do—so don't you dare tell me what I can and cannot do."

"Can you take on a vampire?"

"I know I can—it's in my blood to do so and that's just what I was going do before you decided to play rescue hero with me."

Andrew drew in a breath and looked at her closer, "You're a slayer?"

"Yes—my name is Katrina Kovich and my friend that was taken is Tara Morley. You might have heard of her father."

"Yes, and I've heard of your father also—my name is Andrew Venner, our father's were friends when in training. And as for Caleb Morley—well, it's pretty obvious he was behind what had just happened."

"Excuse me? Are you saying Caleb was trying to kill me and give his daughter away to some monster for his bride?"

"If the shoe fits."

"No—absolutely not—I won't believe it," she said as she walked back into the room and over to the window.

-----------------

"Is your mom ok?" asked Lizzie as Leslie came back into their room and closed the door behind her.

"I don't know—Dad had her go lay down to sleep some. It worries me when this happens—I mean is it going to happen to me when I get older?"

"Well, if it does then by then we'll know how to fix it," smiled Lizzie as she tried to come up with some way of reassuring her friend. "Let's change the subject—what do you want to do tomorrow?"

Leslie smiled at what her friend was doing, "You do realize we aren't Kate and Tara—we aren't going to get a adventure like they will this summer."

"I know—I wonder what they are doing right now."

"You want me to look at see?" asked Leslie and received a shrug from Lizzie. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on Kate and then gave a gasp and opened her eyes wide.

"What? Leslie—what's wrong?"

"I'm—I'm not sure."

"What did you see?" she said, her voice shaking.

"I saw Kate standing at a window looking out—I can't see Tara though."

---------------

"What is it that Caleb Morley has done in his life that makes you see him as a Saint?" asked Andrew as he crossed his arms and leaned back onto the side of the wing chair.

"Nothing-I mean he's done plenty in his life so when he does leave this earth he'll go straight to hell, but he's changed Andrew. He's not a monster-and he would never allow his daughter to be turned into a vampire on purpose, not knowing what her wishes are."

"Well, from the stories I've heard about him--."

"What do I have to say to make you understand he had no part in Tara being kidnapped?" she turned and screamed at him, her blue eyes vibrant with anger at the suggestion he'd made.

"He's a vampire!"

"For him to have her changed-no, there's two reasons he wouldn't do it--."

"Tell me what they are then."

"First, if Tara were to find out, he'd lose her forever. She'd find the spring in the mountains outside of Daia and jump in, and then she'd run-run from him for the rest of her life."

"But if she isn't turned she'll die at the end of her life, and do you really think he's willing to watch his own flesh and blood die while he lives on for eternity?"

"He's done it before," she sighed and turned to look out the window.

"What?" asked a confused Andrew.

"Tara was two when Amelia was born-she was supposed to be born right around   
the time of my little sister and they were going to be best friends. She was born three months premature and only lived for a week. Tara and I, we never got to se her, but I know when April comes around I can see the sadness in both Caleb and Livvie's eyes. They miss their little girl--."

"More reason for them to have their other girl turned."

"Oh, so now Livvie is in the plan?" she laughed as she dug her nails into the window ledge.

"I'm just throwing out guesses here."

"Well, they are all wrong from where I'm standing."

"Fine. What's the other reason?" he sighed, exasperated that she didn't seem to want to take the obvious explanation as a possible idea.

"He'd be starting the war over again-a war that our mothers and my Grandfather made sure was over. Did you know both my father and Caleb have died multiple times? And I don't mean just for a split second before being given a defibrillator to get the heart to have a steady rhythm, I mean stone cold-six feet under dead. My father died first, in 1991 when Caleb stabbed him in the back as he tried to save a Russian Prostitute from Caleb's wrath. My father came back and was able to get Livvie to realize that Caleb was not good and he had to be stopped—he stopped him alright, stabbed him right through the heart with everyone looking on."

"Caleb was stabbed by his own wife-man, that's got to be a blow to the ego," chuckled Andrew.

"Will you shut up?"

"Sorry-continue please."

So my father and my mother together got all the couples together by Christmas Eve-not an easy task mind you. Well, almost all the couples-he fell in love with my mom while doing this, and was sent back down again for what he thought was going to be getting her and Jamal together. Instead though, after weeks of ignoring the obvious-they got to spend six weeks together before he was sent back up."

"So how was he able to stay?" asked Andrew who was now completely enthralled in the story at hand.

"My father proved that love would win no matter what-even if you had no memories of that person, you would still know that with them is where you belong, that being with them was the only thing that made sense. So he became human again-but for every good in the world there is an evil--."

"And Caleb is your father's evil."

"You're catching on," she grinned, but still didn't turn to look at him. "It took a year and a half from Caleb's return to realize they were a pretty good team when they worked together instead of fighting each other."

"So where does your grandfather come into all of this?"

"My grandfather-my twin brother Eddie is named after him-he was there, along with his evil counterpart-James Ritchfield, the last time our father's died. They gave them each a choice, continue to fight each other and lose everything, or find something you agree on and end the war."

"What was it that they agreed on?"

Kate turned around and looked at Andrew, tears in her eyes, "Love. They agreed that the love of a woman and family is stronger than anything else."

"Is that love strong enough to let him let her die when it's her time to go?"

"I want to say yes, because with the other choice my heart breaks to think of the aftermath of everything to come."

------------------

"Wait—hold on," said Lizzie as she went for her suitcase and pulled out a piece of paper. "This—this is their itinerary. Maybe they are just in a museum and Tara is in the bathroom—you can't watch someone in the bathroom, can you?"

"No," laughed Leslie. "What does it say?"

"It says—they are on a train to Munich right now. It didn't look like a train window, did it?"

"No," said Leslie as their hopes faded some that everything was ok.

"Well, we have to go save them," she said as she stood up and began putting some clothes in a bag.

"What?!"

"It's my sister and her best friend—they are off the itinerary and that means they are in trouble. We have to save them, Leslie."

"But—we don't even know where they are. Let's call your dad instead."

"No, it'll take him too long to get here—we're already in Europe so we're closer. They'd do this for us if we were in trouble."

"Are you sure this isn't just your chance to have some adventure this summer?"

"NO—it's not. Now either you start packing a small bag or I'll leave without you."

"My dad--."

"We'll wait until he's asleep and then we leave. If it makes you feel better we can leave a note for him."

"I—I guess so," she sighed, not liking the idea of running across Europe into the unknown, even if it was to save Kate and Tara."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Important note to all writer's out there--when Microsoft Word asks you if you want to save an unsaved document--make sure it's really the cancel or yes button you are pressing and not the no button. ;) Yeah--I've learned from my mistake. Everyone enjoy and Gracie have a safe trip--and be careful around V.--I hear she can bite when provoked. LOL. Until next time--PCGirl.

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"Come on Katrina—pick up your phone," sighed Eddie as he walked around the small Gym apartment. It was 7 am—he had an hour before his dad got there for work and asked if Kate called in after getting of the train in Munich. He hung up the phone and then dialed information, "Yes, I need to get connected to the train station in Munich Germany."

"One moment please," said the operator on the other line and then Eddie listened to some classical music before the telephone began ringing again, "Hello."

"Hi—my name is Edward Barrington, my sister Katrina and her friend Tara Locke were supposed to be getting off a train that arrived there about five hours ago. The starting point was Paris."

"Yes, Mr. Barrington—I was just about to call your sisters emergency contact name. It seems that when the train unloaded here their belongings were still in the sleeping car."

"Do you have any idea at what stop along the way they might have gotten off at?"

"I do not, but I can contact the train conductor and see when the last time he remembers seeing them is."

"Thank you so very much—you can reach me at 837 555-0176."

"Your welcome, I'll call you back with the information shortly."

Eddie had barely hung up the phone when it rang again and he heard softly on the other end, "Eddie?"

"Katrina—where are you? I just found out you weren't on the train when it arrived in Munich. Dad--."

"Stop Edward," she said in an angry yet extremely tired tone. She had barely slept the night, despite Andrew trying to make her as comfortable as possible—at one point he had pulled out a photo album his dad had and she looked at some pictures of her father as a young man. "I need my brother now, not a second father. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes, I can. I'm sorry—what happened?"

"Oh Eddie, it was awful. We were ambushed outside of the train station in Heilbronn. I was ready to defend myself and Tara, but another slayer thought it was his duty to save me. They have Tara and Andrew thinks this is somehow Caleb's doing."

"Well that's preposterous. Give me the address—I'll get the Barrington jet to take me as close to that city as possible and then meet you there."

"I wanted you to be so proud of me Eddie—I know I could have taken him on."

A shiver went up Eddie's spine at the thought of what would have happened if she hadn't though, "I already am proud of you. I'll be there soon."

"Don't--."

"Tell Dad—I know," he grinned.

-----------------

Jack smiled as his son came into the kitchen and opened the fridge to get out the milk, "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Cereal."

"Alright—I'll make it and why don't you get Lizzie and your sister up."

"They aren't there."

"What?" said Jack as he put the milk on the counter and went into the room. "Girls?" he called as he opened the door but saw their beds were made and it seemed their carry on bags were missing also. He began to turn around when he saw the note on Leslie's bed—reading it he walked to the bedroom.

"Hi—I was just about to come out," smiled Jasmine as she felt better than she had in days. "Jack? What is that?" she asked as he handed her the paper and she sat down to read it out loud, "Mom and Dad, We're sorry we didn't tell you what we were doing when you came in last night to say goodnight. Something is wrong with Tara and Kate and we decided we needed to help them, as we know they would help us if we needed it. We'll call when we're headed back here. Love, L and L."

Jasmine wiped away her tears before looking at Jack, "Why did they do this? Jack—they don't know how to defeat vampires—they're just kids. Do they think all vampires are like Caleb? He's not even the same as he was twenty years ago. They could be walking into a death trap right now—how can we save them?"

"We will, don't worry. Can you look and give me an idea of where they are headed? Are they on a bus or a train?" he asked her as she nodded and closed her eyes for a moment.

"They are on a train—please be careful Jack."

"I will," he said giving her a kiss before grabbing a bag and throwing some stuff in.

-------------

"Why hasn't Eddie opened the gym up yet?" asked Alison as Rafe opened the front door—they were late getting there for the day, it was almost 9:30, but the first class didn't start until 10 so they were fine.

"I don't know," he said as he hit the lights and went to the steps. "Edward—get your butt out of bed."

"Where's Eddie?" asked little Gregory.

"I don't know—probably asleep still," said Alison as she ran her hands over he little blonde boy.

"Come on Eddie—time to get up," said Rafe as he got up to the top of the stairs and went to the door. He stopped when he saw the note on the door, "Dad, I had to go somewhere—Sorry about not being here for work. Talk to you soon. Eddie."

Rafe furrowed his brow for a moment before pulling out his cell phone, "Edward—where are you?"

"I—I needed a few days vacation. I'm driving to visit some friends that are over in Buffalo."

"Oh really? Where's the music from the radio?" he asked, knowing his son never drove anywhere without background music.

"I turned it off to answer the phone."

"Uhm—ok, I'll buy it. But I'm telling you now, if I go over to the airport and your car is parked there you are losing this apartment and moving back in with your mom and I—am I making myself clear."

"Crystal. Bye Dad," he said, hanging up before his dad could say something else. He buckled himself in for the plane ride—knowing that when his dad caught wind of everything going on this was going to get ugly.

-------------------

Jack sat in the car for a moment before driving off—he had no clue where he was going to go first, but decided to try something. Picking up his cell phone he dialed and sighed when she answered, "Leslie Brianna Ramsey—I want you to turn around NOW."

"I can't dad—we spent all our money on the round trip ticket."

"Then tell me what the next stop is and I'll meet you there."

"No."

"Don't you dare say no to me—you and Lizzie do not know what you are getting yourselves into. Now I know you four girls have always seen each other as sisters, but Tara and Kate are going to be ok—I'm sure Rafe and Caleb are already aware of the situation. Now please Leslie—tell me where you are."

"I'm sorry Dad. I love you," she said hanging up the phone.

"Damn it," said Jack as he punched the steering wheel. He sighed as he pulled out of the driveway, "Amelia—we've always said you are their guardian angel—please don't let us down in their time of need."

-----------------

"Caleb," said Rafe on the cordless phone as he grabbed a large duffle bag and began throwing clothes and weapons in the bag.

"What took you so long to call me?" asked Caleb as he threw a few bottles of his special water in a bag and put it on his shoulder.

"You knew—You lying blood sucking--."

"Hey—hold on, I just found out a bit ago when the prick called me to rub it in some."

"And you didn't think I needed to know? I thought we were on the same team Caleb."

"We are—I was getting some stuff together and then I was coming to get you. He doesn't have Kate though—some slayer rescued her, as he said."

"Yeah, and she called Eddie—he's on his way over there on the Barrington jet as we speak. How are you getting there?"

"Instantaneous travel I suppose—I need to talk to Olivia first."

"I need to tell Alison what's going on—I freaked her out running out of the Gym like I did. Is the prick Marius?"

"Yeah."

"That's what I thought—then the slayer is Andrew Veener. I'm going to meet Eddie at the airport and then go over to get Kate. You want to meet us there?"

"Yeah, and then we'll go over to deal with Marius together—no funny stuff, Slayer."

"No funny stuff," said Rafe as he hung up the phone and zipped up the bag—ready and completely unsure on what was going to happen next.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Normally I'd give you a rough translation of what is being said in Romanian, but this time I'm going to not say anything—you might get an idea as to what is happening anyways. Until next time—PCGirl.

* * *

Caleb took a look at his watch as he pulled out his keys and unlocked the apartment door—he needed to be there already, knew that Eddie's plane was landing soon and he didn't want Rafe to get a hold of Marius just yet. He opened the door and instead of the normal throwing his keys on the table he slipped them back into pocket, "Olivia?" he called out—hoping she was still here.

He walked down the hall and opened the bedroom door a crack to see she was still sleeping—Miranda in the bed next to her. A smile appeared on his face as he thought about how tiny she was and how soon that wouldn't be the case. He held back the tears as he leaned down and kissed his daughter on the forehead and then his wife.

Her eyes fluttered open and a smile immediately appeared on her face, "You're home?"

"Not for long," he whispered as he took her hand and nodded towards the living room. "I have to tell you something—and you aren't going to like it."

"Oh my god, Caleb. I've been feeling something all night—is it Tara?" she asked as he sat her down on the couch, his hands still holding her trembling ones.

"Her and Kate were ambushed—the jerk called me and rubbed it in my face. Rafe is already over there and I'm meeting him in an hour. I need you to pack and have Alex stay with Jeremiah—you can bring Miranda to Daia," he said, surprised by his calmness.

"No, I'll leave her with my dad—why aren't we coming back here though?"

"I'm unsure of the condition Tara will be in."

"Condition?" asked Livvie as her voice soared. "Are you saying he might have killed her?"

"No—not at all," he said soothing her, knowing the man wouldn't do that. "She's going to be in shock, and I'd rather have her somewhere more secluded where myself and Delia can take care of her until she is well. I have a few bottles of water in my bag and shipped some more to Daia already. It's going to be ok—our little girl is going to be just fine," he said as he pushed her hair back out of her face.

"I know," she said through sniffles. "I know you and Rafe are going to get them home safe—I just never thought this would happen to the girls, they were supposed to be safe. How did someone spot them out of the clear blue like that? It's like they had to know exactly who they were looking for—and how could they do that unless they were shown a picture of Tara and Kate beforehand?"

"Yeah—it is odd how this happened unexpectedly."

---------------

Rafe stood at the back of the terminal, his duffle bag at his feet. He had to laugh at the fact that Eddie had powers to get himself here in a matter of minutes, but instead took an extremely long flight. He crossed his arms and leaned back as he saw his son walking in, his hand already on his cell phone.

"Edward," he said in a loud tone that made his son jump and look as if he were seeing a ghost.

"Dad—how did you get here already?"

"Something that comes with age and wisdom," he said with a wink at his son. "Are you calling Kate?"

"Yeah, to tell her I'm on the way—Listen, I'm sorry I didn't tell you—she just wanted me to help her out and I figured I can and I will. She's with Andrew Veener—wasn't that the name of your friend's son?"

"That is Claus' son—and I supposed I'm happier to know he's been watching over Kate. I'm not mad at you Eddie—It's just that yeah you and your sisters have been taught to defend yourself and use your Slayer powers, but you haven't been through all the training I was required to go. If something happens and you need my help I'd rather you ask for it than think you can handle it all by yourself. If anything ever happened to any of you I don't know how I could face your mother again," he said and then getting silent as he thought about what Caleb had to tell Livvie earlier.

He gave a slight cough and continued, "Alright, well let's go get your sister and then Caleb should be here soon."

--------------

"Scuza-ma," said Caleb to the large man he was talking to and walked away for a moment. "Hello?"

"It's Jack."

"I'm kind of busy Ramsey—what is it?" asked Caleb in a whispered tone.

"I know about Kate and Tara—but I have some worse news."

"What?" said Caleb louder.

"Lizzie and Leslie are on there way to try and save the girls. I'm on a train to try and catch them before they hurt themselves, but I don't know the town I should be coming to."

"Heilbronn. I'll let Rafe know when I meet up with him," he said shortly as he looked back at the man who seemed to be impatient. "I have to go Jack."

"Fine. I'll try and stop them," he snapped at Caleb as he hung up the phone.

"Este o problema?" asked the man as Caleb walked back over to him.

"Nu , nici o problema la tot. Multumesc iar pentru al tau serviciu."

-------------------

"Is this the address?" asked Rafe as began to turn the car into the driveway.

"Yeah, this is what Kate gave me," said Eddie as he unbuckled his seatbelt and looked at his dad. They had barely gotten out of the car when the front door opened and Kate came running out and into her brother's arms, "Hey sis."

"Hi," she said as she wiped the tears away and looked at him and then over to see Rafe. "Daddy?" she said in shock and then ran to his arms and began crying again. "I'm so sorry—I tried so hard to protect both of us."

"Hey, it's ok," he said pulling her away and wiping her face—it was then he realized how much she was like her mom. "Nobody is blaming you, Princess. Nobody at all," he finished as he looked up to see Andrew standing outside the door. "You must be Claus' son—you look just like he did at your age. I'm Rafe—your father, Grayson, and I were good friends for many years," said Rafe as he went over and extended his hand.

"I remember very few things about my father—but I remember he had a picture frame on his desk of the three of you. I'm sorry I wasn't able to save Tara though."

"It's ok—there might still be time."

"Then stop jabbering and come on," said a voice behind the two and Rafe turned around to see Caleb standing there with his arms folded at his chest and a water bottle in his hand. He gave an inner chuckle at the fact this was the most Kovich's in Europe in the past thirty years.

"Andrew—do you happen to have any water bottles we could take?" asked Rafe as he motioned for Eddie and Kate to go inside also. "Is that all you brought for Tara?"

"No, there's more in my bag—and there's more being shipped to Daia."

"You aren't coming back to Port Charles with us?"

"No, not at the moment. Listen—all I want to do is get in there, get Tara, and get out. When she's settled in then we can talk about fighting Marius for this. Any problem with that?"

"None at all, I suppose."


	11. Chapter 11

"We're going to make a left up here," said Caleb as he sat in the passenger seat of Rafe's rental car while Andrew, Kate, and Eddie followed behind them.

"You know how to get here?"

"Once—when I was leading a different life."

"You know he killed Andrew's father—it happened after you--."

"Killed you?" said Caleb with a slight chuckle. "What's wrong, Slayer? We're usually not this edgy anymore—you have something on your mind?"

"Trying to figure out if we're doing something wrong here. We've sheltered our children, Caleb—sheltered them a heck of a lot more than we were ever sheltered in our youth. So is there a point you just finally give up on sheltering them and let them make their own mistakes?"

Caleb laughed as they pointed to the driveway to turn into, "Are you actually saying you are willing to let Edward and Katrina go into Marius' place by themselves and you sit out here in the car?"

"I'm not sure," said Rafe as he put the car in park and looked at the house. "How do you want to approach this?" he asked as he saw Kate go running past their car and into the house.

Caleb stood there as he watched Rafe run after her and said to himself, "I don't think you are ready to let go just yet, Rafe."

-------------

"Is this it?" asked Lizzie as they came to the edge of the woods and looked up at the large Villa in front of them.

"I think so—I'm not sure."

"Well, let's go in and get them," said Lizzie as she started to move and Leslie pulled her back. "What?"

"There's a car here—how can we trust them?"

"It's probably the maid or a housekeeper."

"Vampires don't have housekeepers."

"Yes they do. Hello—What do you think Delia does?" she said with sarcasm running through her words.

"Fine, but I don't think he looks very friendly," said Leslie as they looked up to see Andrew walking around from the side of the house.

-------------

"Katrina—stop," yelled Rafe as he went running through the halls and saw his daughter standing in the doorway of a room. He came up behind her and saw she was looking into a living room with white curtains blowing into the room through an open window. On a chaise lounge was Tara, dressed in all white, sleeping like an angel.

"He practically copied the Villa," said Caleb in Romanian into Rafe's ear.

"Tara," sighed Kate as she went over to her, kneeling down beside her friend. "Hey—we're here. I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner," she said while tears filled her eyes and she looked at her friend.

Caleb moved past Rafe and over to Kate. "Hey Sunshine," he said quietly as he pushed her hair back off her neck and saw the marks. He looked up to Rafe and gave a quiet nod.

"Is she--?" asked Kate, unable to finish the sentence when Caleb gave her a soft nod. "No! Please no—I'm sorry Caleb, I'm so sorry. I wanted to protect her—I tried, I really did."

"We know," said Eddie as he ran over to his sister's side and hugged her—there was something being said between Caleb and his father and he couldn't stand to see his sister feeling so guilty while they seemed to almost ignore what she was going through.

Caleb gave a deep sigh before looking at Kate, "Katrina—can you tell me what happened?"

"No, Caleb—this is not the time nor the place to be asking those questions," spoke Rafe as he walked into the room finally.

"No, Dad—I need to tell him. I think I can do this," she said as she pushed out of Eddie's grasp and sat down on the floor like a small child. "We were doing really good—everyone we met thought our last names were Barrington and Locke. The conductor of the train though—he did call us by our last names, but I think Marius was already on to us," she said as she looked up to see Andrew standing still in the doorway. "Why were you in London that day? And did you follow us to Paris also?"

"I was in London because Marius had come there a few days before me. I don't know if he knew you two would be there, but it would explain a lot," he said as he looked at Caleb.

Kate glared at Andrew, knowing what he was thinking, "I'm sorry Caleb, I really am."

"It's ok, sweetheart," he said as he tried to give a smile to her.

"Dad, can we go home now?" asked Kate as she wiped her eyes.

"Of course," he said as he put his arm around her and without looking again at Caleb he left, with Eddie following behind them.

---------------

"He went inside a few minutes ago, don't you think it's safe now?" whispered Lizzie.

"I guess so—let me see if I can see where Kate is before we go in," she said closing her eyes.

"She's safe," sighed Lizzie as she saw her walk out of the building.

"How do you know?" said Leslie with her eyes still closed and trying to focus.

"Because—open your eyes," she said as she slapped her friend and then looked up to see her brother and father coming out also. "Oh crap—we're busted."

----------------

"I want to talk to Andrew for a moment," said Rafe as he helped Kate into the car and went off to thank Andrew for saving Kate.

"Did you notice anything odd between those two in there?" asked Eddie as his mind kept on thinking.

"Who? Andrew and Dad?" she asked as she stared out the window and into the woods.

"No, Dad and Caleb."

"No, I didn't--," she said as she stopped continuing her sentence.

"What is it?"

"I thought I saw someone in the woods just then."

"You think it's Marius?"

"No, it was too small—almost like it was a little girl. There it is again," she said as Eddie watched this time and jumped out of the car. "Eddie—where are you going?" she said getting out behind him.

"Wait a second," he called back, catching Rafe's attention to see his son running into the woods.

"Edward!" he shouted as he waited for him to come back.

"I don't think I'm the Kovich you should be yelling at," he said as he pushed Lizzie into the open and Leslie walked out behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

Caleb placed Tara on the bed and sighed at seeing how small she looked compared to the large bed. She had only woken up once and he was able to get her to drink some water before she fell back asleep on the way here. He knew she was tired and regretted everything that led up to this moment. There was nobody he could blame though but himself.

The door opened and he turned to see Delia standing in the doorway, "She looks so small."

"She'll be fine, don't worry Caleb," she said softly as she came next to him. "What is it you need me to do?"

"When she wakes up make sure she drinks some more of this—it'll help keep her cravings down. Make sure she's comfortable also—I'm going to go wait for Olivia to get here."

"Of course," she said as she watched him leave the room and then pulled a chair over to the bed. She took Tara's hand and sighed at feeling how cold it was before she closed her eyes and bowed her head and began praying.

-----------------

Alison ran to the door at hearing the taxi pull into the driveway—Rafe had called and said they were at the airport, but said they'd take a taxi instead of her coming. She'd been reading herself to comfort Kate, but when she opened the door to see who was there she froze, "Lizzie? What are you doing here?" she asked as she looked at Rafe who looked like Mount St. Helens about to erupt.

"I--," spoke Lizzie before she was cut off.

"Elizabeth," warned Rafe.

"Let me say something," she pleaded with him.

"Your actions of the past twenty four hours have said enough," he said, unable to look at her. "Just go to your room—we'll talk later."

"Dad—Mom--," she said as she began to sob.

"ELIZABETH! NOW!" he yelled, finally looking at her so fiercely she jumped and ran up the steps—her bedroom door slamming a few moments later.

"What the hell was that about? Did you go to Jack's and drag her out of there for protection? You said her actions—what actions is that? Rafe—say something—you're scaring me—you were supposed to go get Tara out of that monster's mansion."

Rafe sat down on the couch trying to control his emotions and looked at Alison, love and fear, and tears filling his eyes, "I could have lost them both today, Angel. There's only one other time I've been that scared and fearless—that was when Joshua had you. I would have done anything to save you—I practically did to get you out of there."

"Ok, calm down—hey, look at me. Our daughter's are fine—Eddie called me and told me he's got Kate over at the gym, she's resting and he's keeping a close eye on her. Now tell me about Lizzie, please," she said as tears filled her eyes.

He got up and began pacing as he talked, "Leslie and Lizzie wanted to help Jasmine. She had an episode and they wanted to help her—so they thought to check on the girls, make sure they were ok. Leslie had a vision and saw they were separated. So they snuck out of Jack and Jasmine's house in the middle of the night and went to the train station."

"They did what!" soared Alison's voice so she knew her daughter heard her upstairs.

"Jack was on their trail, knew where they were going—or had an idea."

"How did you find them?"

"This is what makes me so mad—we almost missed them, Alison. A few more minutes and I would have been driving off and just leaving my daughter there for Marcus' clutches. I was so focused on getting Kate and Tara out of harm's way that I didn't even feel another slayer's presence."

"So where is Leslie?"

"We waited for Jack to make it to the train station and he took her home. I—I just feel so inadequate. I wanted Kate to have this great senior trip—and I don't blame Jack in the least for what Leslie and Lizzie did—I mean look at who her namesake is," he said, finally breaking a smile that caused Alison to grin also.

Alison walked over behind him and put her arms around his waist, "You aren't inadequate, Rafe. You are a slayer and you were focusing on what you thought was the only problem—there was no warning signs or bells on any of this. But it's ok—our children are all home in Port Charles safely. And Tara—she's going to get through this, just gain her strength and go to the springs. Now how long until we let Lizzie leave her room?"

"How does 10-12 years sound?" laughed Rafe as he turned and gave her a kiss, trying to keep what was becoming more and more obvious of another possible problem off his mind for a few minutes.

------------------

Eddie finished writing the sign for the front door and opened it to see one of their regular guys standing there, "Hey—Ben—isn't it? Sorry, but we're going to have to stay closed another day."

"Really? I was looking forward to lifting some weights though."

"I'm sorry—we've just had a family crisis the past few days. It should be cleared up tomorrow though," he said as he put the sign on the door and waited for the guy to leave before closing and locking up. He looked at the juice bar and went around grabbing a couple bottles of juice and water to take up to the room.

"Mom, just called again," smiled Kate as she stretched out on the couch in the apartment as Eddie walked in.

"Checking up again?"

"Yeah," she said with a shrug. "I can always go back to Mom and Dad's—you can open up the gym, I'm sure there are people wanting to come in now."

"Do you _really _want to be there in the middle of a Lizzie-Rafe square-off?" he laughed and smiled when she smiled at him.

"It'd be better than constantly thinking of the fact that Tara is now a vampire and it's my fault."

"Hey—stop doing that—I insist," he said as he sat down on her feet making her move her legs around. "You are not to blame, Katrina—this was unseen circumstance by some lunatic vampire that has it out for Dad and Caleb."

"Not if you ask Andrew," she said under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing. I think I'm going to take a nap," she said as grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and curled up in it.

------------------

Livvie had never walked into Morley Manor and felt so small in the huge house. She could feel the eeriness in it and wondered what the original Olivia felt when she walked in here—if she ever had. Better yet, what had Elena and Tara felt walking into this place that became a battleground for everything yet to come. Uneasiness—uncertainty of the future—wanting to return to what they knew—and all of that, in a way, was what she was feeling in that exact moment.

She placed her suitcase down and heard a noise coming from the library. "Caleb?"

Caleb looked up as the door opened and wanted to frown at seeing the look on his wife's face, "You made it."

"Of course. Where is she?"

"She's upstairs—asleep. Delia is sitting at her bedside while I looked something up," he said as she slipped the book back onto a shelf, higher than it had been originally.

"Well, can we see her?"

"Of course, my love," he said giving her a kiss and putting his arm around her waist before leading her out of the library to see their daughter.


	13. Chapter 13

She opened her eyes slowly—the roomhad gone cold during the night and the fire had long since died. It was almost daybreak now—the long night was over, she hoped. "Caleb?" she said quietly as he came into the room with firewood in his arms.

"I didn't want to wake you," he said quietly as he filled the large fireplace and then searched for the matches he had in his pocket.

"It's ok," she said as she got up from the chaise lounge that Caleb had moved her to at one point. She walked slowly to the large windows and took in the purple haze that introduced the land to a new day. "I've always loved sunrises here. This is the first time we've been here under bad circumstances—we didn't come here when we lost Amelia. We almost lost Tara," she sighed, trying to keep herself from crying.

"We're not going to have to watch any of our children leave us again, Olivia."

"What do you mean by that?" she said as she turned to face him and saw movement from Tara's bed—immediately forgetting what Caleb just said. "Tara sweetie, are you ok?" she said, running over to the side of the bed and taking her hand.

"Mama?"

"Hey," smiled Livvie brightly.

"Kate—is she ok?"

"She's fine—she's back in Port Charles with her family. Everyone is just fine," she said as she sat down on the bed beside her daughter and began telling her all that had happened.

-----------------

Leslie walked into the kitchen and kept her head down—she hadn't slept at all last night—her full name being yelled at her still ringing in her ears. She grabbed a bowl from the cabinet and poured some cereal, going to sit down across from Noah at the table with her parents sitting on each side.

There was silence until Noah made a slurping noise from drinking his milk from his bowl, "Can I be excused?" he asked in his small voice and Jasmine smiled and nodded to him as he hopped down, taking his bowl to the kitchen sink and then running off down the hall to his room.

"Leslie—we have to talk," she said quietly.

"I know what you are going to say. You are going to say your ashamed and disappointed in me. You don't love me anymore and are going to send me back to Port Charles, right?"

"You are completely wrong, sweetie. We were happy you wanted to try and protect both Kate and Tara, but you have to realize something—not all vampires are as easy to deal with like Caleb. Even Caleb wasn't easy to deal with in the beginning. What your two dads and I want is you to be a child still—be a child as long as you possibly can. You're growing up so fast already—don't grow up faster than you have to, please."

"So I'm not grounded?"

"There's not much we can ground you for here—but you will be grounded for the remaining of your vacation here. That means no going to the movie's or movie rentals, no shopping, and no talking on the phone to Lizzie. When you get back home Chris, Rafe, and I have decided you two will not get to see or talk to each other for a week."

"But--," she protested.

"Don't you dare fight with me, Ramsey," he laughed at the fact he suddenly thought he sounded like Livvie years ago. "You're our little girl and we love you. Now go get dressed and ready for the day."

"Where are we going?" she said as her face lighted up at the thought of something fun.

"The museum."

"You're killing me dad," she said with a roll of the eyes and then a wink before putting her bowl in the sink and leaving the room also.

"Well, nobody can say she's not a Ramsey," laughed Jack.

----------------

"I know what you would say to me Greg if you could say more than just a few simple words and sentences—you would say _Kate, it isn't your fault. You didn't know what was going to happen—you and Tara went over there to celebrate your graduation, not to get attacked by a vampire._ You know how I know that?"

"How?" smiled Alison as she stood in the doorway watching her daughter at the stove, talking to her little brother that was sitting on the floor at her feet.

"Mom—hi—did I wake you?"

"No, I can't believe I slept this late. So how do you know that's what he would say?"

"He's a male Kovich—nuff said," she laughed as she put down the spatula and went to hug her mom.

Alison laughed at her response, "When did you get here?"

"About 7:30—I couldn't stay at the Gym any longer so I brought Eddie's car here and Dad took it back when he went to work."

"What's for breakfast?" she asked, nodding to the stove.

"Chocolate Chip pancakes—Greg's choice," she smiled down at him.

"Coco Cip," he said, giving his mom and sister a big grin.

"Good choice, little man," she said as she leaned down and picked him up. "Where's your sister?"

"Pouting in her room, I suppose. Dad gave her her marching orders before leaving. Quite lenient if you ask me," she said with a shrug as she pulled out an extra plate for her mom while she went to put Greg in his high chair.

"Yeah, well I think age has mellowed him out a bit—if it had been when you and Eddie were her age--."

"We'd be grounded til we were thirty," laughed Kate, surprised that she was actually feeling good this morning.

------------------

"Rafe called me this morning," said Grayson. "He told me what you did Andrew—that was very brave and noble of you."

"Yeah, well that's what I was trained for—too bad we couldn't find the vampire, it was like he'd just left her there for us to find her in person."

"Well, that's what vampires do sometimes—but she's with her family now, it'll be ok."

"If you think so," muttered Andrew under his breath. "I'll talk to you later, Grayson," he said as they said goodbye and hung up the phone. Andrew walked through his home slowly—it was empty again, like his life normally was. It had only been one day that she'd been here, but he'd enjoyed the company.

When his father had died his mother had become withdrawn from life, withdrawn from him even—he had lived with her for almost a year when Grayson had offered to take him in, saying the boy needed a father figure.

Andrew was glad for Grayson doing that but he wished he'd let him be a normal child for a bit longer. Katrina and Edward seemed to have a balanced life growing up and it showed—they weren't thinking about an unseen danger around every corner, or wondering if a new person in town was friend or foe.

He walked into the room he'd let Kate use and saw she'd left her pink shirt—he picked it, making sure he'd remember to call and get it back to her soon. Maybe she was right, maybe this was when he should stop being a slayer and start living the life that had been calling him for so long.

-----------------

Kate wanted to be happier—she put on a smile when they came over to Lucy's earlier, but now—as her mom and Lucy were off talking about something, she really just wanted to go up to the spare room and lay down. But instead she was sitting on the back steps watching Greg and Miranda playing in the yard.

"Mind if I join you?" said Lizzie quietly as she sat down next to her sister and laid her head on her shoulder. "Look at those two."

"They don't have a care in the world, do they?" said Kate with a half smile.

"Nope. To them they think the world is continuing on normally—nothing has changed to them. Maybe we should take a lesson from them."

"I'm not sure I can do that, Lizzie."

"Sure you can—I mean I'll see Leslie again and get to spend time with her, and you'll get to do the same with Tara," she said as she looked next to her to see a bottle of bubbles and took off the lid and pulled the wand out, releasing bubbles of all sizes into the air.

Kate smiled as she watched Miranda and Greg see what was happening and ran over to play in them, yelling out _Bubbles! _when Lizzie began to slow down on getting them blown. Maybe Lizzie was right—sometimes you just have to ignore everything around you and blow some bubbles.

----------------

Alison stood on the inside of the house watching her two girls sitting there on the steps as the two little ones played in a shower of bubbles, "How are you feeling?" she asked Livvie onto the phone after a moment of silence.

"Tired. Uneasy about something. I'm sure it's Tara's realization she's a vampire, but it's almost like the other shoe is waiting to drop."

"Have you mentioned it to Caleb?"

"No," she said quickly. She was sitting outside at the moment, Tara's bedroom door open incase she woke up again. "I'll say something later, but right now—," she stopped when she saw the door open and Tara walk out into the sunlight, "Sweetie—what are you doing up?"

"I wanted to walk some. Are you talking to Alison?" she asked quietly, her hands gripping the doorframe to stay standing.

"Yes—do you want to talk to Kate?" she said getting up and moving her daughter over to the seat next to her and going in to get a bottle of water for Tara to drink. "Don't let them talk long, Ali—she's still weak."

"I won't," sighed Alison at hearing Tara's soft voice a moment ago. She opened the door and saw both her girls turn their heads to see who was coming out, "Telephone Katrina—it's Tara," she smiled as seeing her oldest eyes fill with happiness and jump to get the phone from her mom.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: This chapter is a roller coaster of emotions (or at least I think so when I read it). So hold on tight when you read it—and please try not to send me hate mail. ;) Until next time—Merry Christmas, Happy Belated Chanukah, or Happy Kwanzaa—or whatever it is you might celebrate—PCGirl.

* * *

Andrew took in a deep breath before walking in the Gym—the place was busy today, and it seemed like he couldn't find Eddie or Rafe anywhere. He did recognize the girl at the juice bar—Elizabeth had been the name Rafe had called her when they found her, but Kate had called her Lizzie the other times she spoke of her. He could tell she wasn't enjoying herself at all so he approached with caution, "Hello."

"Hi—can I help you?" she asked, off in her own world before realizing she'd met him before. "You're Andrew—right?"

"Yeah, I'm here for a visit and I wanted to see if your dad or brother were around."

"They are in a big self defense class at the moment, but my mom and sister are upstairs if you want to talk to Kate—I'll let them know when they get out. Just go up the stairs and it's the apartment with the door opened, most likely."

"Thanks," he said as he took the steps quickly and could hear a radio playing in one of the rooms, though the door was closed. He leaned in to hear the conversation inside before knocking.

"You know—the last time we painted this apartment was when I was pregnant with you. It was Valentine's—Jasmine and I painted until Livvie stopped by," she said as she continued to paint the extra apartment for Kate. Her and Rafe had talked about it last night amongst each other and announced it to Kate in the morning—who was more than thrilled to get her own place.

"Livvie wasn't helping?"

Alison laughed, "Livvie and I learned long ago to never get around each other with paint brushes."

"Oh no—do I want to know?" she grimaced while still smiling.

"Let's just say we'll never look at chocolate chip muffins again," she laughed as she continued painting and stopped as she heard a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," said Kate as she sat down her paint brush and opened the door.

Andrew smiled at seeing her with paint on her cheek and her hair pulled back and covered by a blue bandana, "Hi."

"What are you doing here?" she squealed as she hugged him tightly. "I can't believe you are here—why did you come?"

"I—brought you this. You left it," he said as he dug through his knapsack and pulled out her pink sweater.

"You didn't have to do that, Andrew—there is a thing called the post office," she laughed at him as she motioned for him to sit it on a chair that was out harms way from the paint.

"I know—I just wanted to see how you were doing for yourself," he said as he noticed the woman behind her. "You must be Alison."

"And you must be Andrew—thank you for what you did for my daughter, and for Tara also."

"Well, I wish I could have been more of a help with that."

"Don't beat yourself up over that—there's enough of that going around already," laughed Alison as he gave a half smile and then looked back at Kate. "You know what—I bet you've had a long flight and are hungry—why don't we take a break and go into Eddie's apartment and see what we can find," she said as she put down her brush and led them down the hall to the other apartment.

--------------

"Christina sends her love," smiled Livvie as she placed the phone down and went to sit on the end of the chaise, patting Tara's blanket covered feet.

"Are her and Danny engaged yet? Did she give you details?" said Tara, her smile getting bright.

"She told me it was sweet and romantic—he did it at sunset."

"How romantic," she sighed with a smile.

"You are feeling better today—did talking to Kate yesterday help some?" asked Livvie as she pushed the hair out of her daughter's face.

"It did—and I know I haven't said it out loud yet, but I know I'm a vampire, Mom," she said as she looked at her hands and back up to Livvie with tears in her eyes.

"Oh sweetheart," said Livvie as she moved in to hug her.

"It's ok. Because I already know what I'm going to do. I'm going to make sure I drink my water, and eat—and I'll get stronger, and then in a few weeks maybe I'll be strong enough to go to the springs, and this whole nightmare will be over with," said Tara as she messed with her blanket some.

"I'm glad you aren't letting this get you down, Tara. You've always been strong when it comes to overcoming anything."

"I'm just worried if you and dad will be disappointed that I'm not wanting to stay a vampire. This just—it's not who I want to be—I know I can still be anything I want to when I'm a vampire, I just think the thought of drinking blood is—,"

"Icky?" laughed Livvie. "A part of me thought that once too—and I could never ever be disappointed in you, Tara. I know you don't want to be a vampire—I figured that out when you were pretty young. It is a person's choice to become like your father and I—it's not something that can be forced onto you. If it is—and the person is forced to be that, well I think they would turn hard on the inside as they fought to accept something that wasn't meant to be."

-------------------------

"Don't worry about anything, Grayson—I'm pretty sure he'll be back home before anything happens with Marius. Maybe this is—I don't know—a vacation he feels like he has to take," said Rafe as he looked up to see his wife leaning against the doorway watching him. He'd come upstairs twenty minutes ago to tell Grayson Andrew was here in Port Charles, and hadn't gotten off the phone yet.

"I'm sure he's fine there—I just don't understand why he'd abandon his post the way he did."

"I'll talk to him if it'll make you feel better. Just know that he's in capable hands here—and seems to be enjoying himself. I'll call you after I talk to him."

"Thanks Rafe. I always knew I could count on you," said Grayson as he hung up the phone.

"Grayson was worried?" asked Alison as she watched him hang up the phone and scratch the back of his head in thought.

"Yeah—Grayson will never admit it, but he sees Andrew as his son. He's a good kid."

"Yeah, he is. I was watching him while I was downstairs—I think I know why he came here. He likes Kate—a lot."

Rafe felt the back of his neck get warm, "No. Definitely not."

"Why not? I think it's cute," she grinned.

"Yeah, you thought it was cute when Lizzie had a crush on Alex a few years ago. Thank God that ended quick."

"Rafe—this isn't Lizzie or Alex we are talking about. This is your eighteen year old daughter that someday soon is going to find the man of her dreams and fall head over heels for him. Why can't it be Andrew?"

"Because—he's too quick to react to anything, he doesn't think of the consequences sometimes. And he has this grudge with a vampire that's going to get him killed if he's not careful. He thinks with his heart rather than his head—I mean look at the fact that he came here on the spur of the moment--."

Alison tried to hold in the laughter but it finally caught the best of her and filled the room quickly, "Rafe—you just described yourself twenty years ago. Andrew is exactly like you when you were his age."

"Yeah? And I was dead at his age too—I rest my case."

Alison bit her lip and ignored the glare he was giving her. She came over and took his hand slowly, "Someday Rafe—both of your little girls aren't going to be little anymore, and they won't need you for protection—I think the past few weeks have brought that into focus more. And when the day comes that they walk in that door with their eyes glistening with love and excitement at introducing you to the one—I hope you can find it in yourself to shake his hand without breaking it and welcome into the family."

-----------------

Caleb hung up the phone and set it down—the man he had asked to keep an eye on Marius now had lost him—said that sometime during the night Marius had left. He could be anywhere between Germany and here by now. He gave a loud sigh as he looked up to see his brother standing in front of him, "What are you here for?"

"I think the question is what have you done Caleb?" asked Michael as he ran his fingers over the books on the shelf and stopped to pick a specific one out.

"I don't know what you are talking about—and anyways, you are nothing more than a figment of my imagination so will you please leave—NOW!"

"I come around when you are worried about something—like you have a plan that begins to backfire in your face, perhaps? Just confess what you've done, Caleb—I am, for some reason, a Priest in your eyes—I'll pray for your soul for what you've done."

"I will not confess anything—because there is nothing to confess," he said with a wicked grin. "You see—to confess fault means you have done something wrong—what I did, what I had to do was my right as a father."

"It is your choice to change your child's life forever? I don't believe I've read that in the bible before."

"You read and see what you want to see. I will tell you this, no child of mine will be taken away from me again-not by Marius and not by your so called merciful God."

"You did this because of Amelia?" asked Michael, surprised and not that surprised honestly.

"You wouldn't understand—nobody but Olivia and I understand what it's like to lose a piece of you the way we did."

"It saddens me to realize you have not changed at all Caleb. You are still ruthless in your pursuit of what you believe belongs to you."

"Tara belongs to me—she's my flesh and blood—and if you don't believe that then you are worthless."

"Tara is nothing but a child--."

"She's no longer a child—she's a vampire, and she will learn to accept this, just as I learned to accept it when I was turned."

"Against your will—I might add."

"And in the end, I realized why my father did what he did—and with time, she will realize the same."


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: This is what you get when the power is out for 4 and 1/2 hours because of an ice storm. :) I don't even know how many people other than the Awians are still reading this—it's going too slow and I have nothing to blame it on other than myself. So bad self—hehehe. Enjoy! Until next time—I WANNA BE IN CALIFORNIA!!!—PCGirl.

* * *

"So why do you think he really came here?" asked Lizzie as she came back from getting a soda and sat down on her sleeping bag in the middle of a now empty and freshly painted apartment. Their parents had agreed to let Lizzie spend the night with Kate and she'd jumped at the chance to grill her sister about the newest person in their lives—Andrew.

Kate shrugged at the question while snacking on popcorn, "He probably just wanted a break from being a full time Vampire Slayer."

She rolled her eyes at the response and threw in her two cents in the process, "I think it's because he likes you."

She laughed now—laughter coming easier with each passing day of talking to Tara and knowing she was getting stronger, "Leave it to you to turn a simple visit into something more."

"Oh come on—like you didn't think the same. You run into a dashing young man in London—then he saves your life and then he travels thousands of miles away—you can't say there's something more to the story."

"Yeah--it was to return a sweater. And that's so what movies are about--returning lost articles of clothing," she laughed harder and then stopped—her head looking at the door. "Did you hear that?"

"No," she said as she waited a moment and then heard the same thing, "What was that?"

"It's probably our big brother trying to scare us," said Kate as she walked up to the door quietly and quickly pulled it open, grabbing the person in the hallway and throwing them off balance so before they knew it, both her and the other person were on the floor together.

He lost his breath for a moment when she did that and when he caught it again he noticed that he was now somehow pinned under Katrina, "Get off of me!"

"Andrew?" gasped Kate as Lizzie ran over and turned on the lights.

-------------------

Alison walked out of the bathroom and saw Rafe sitting on the seat at the end of the bed putting his shoes on. "Rafe—are you going somewhere?"

"Hmmm?" he said as he looked up to see his wife standing there in her bathrobe, ready for bed. "I—I was just going to run to the store and get some milk for breakfast in the morning—we're out of it."

She couldn't help but grin—too bad the truth was they were out of milk, but Rafe was never one to go get it without being asked first, "Right. And I'm sure you are going to the store right down the street—not the one over by the gym?"

Busted. He could see the look in her eyes that she'd caught him, "I just wanted to make sure the girls had everything they needed."

"Rafe—if they needed anything they would call. And besides—they do have Eddie right next door if they really do need anything."

"Right. Eddie."

"This is about Andrew—isn't it? You're upset that Eddie offered Andrew to stay with him tonight and now you are not trusting him anymore."

"It's not that--."

"Then what is it? He's a good boy, you've said so yourself—the man he shares DNA with and the man that raised him are two men you trust as much as you trust Ian. Can you seriously stand here and say because Danny was away for sixteen years that you can't trust him?"

"This has nothing to do with Danny or Ian—this has to do with Andrew."

"But Danny and Ian are in the same category as Andrew and his two fathers."

-------------------

Caleb turned from the fire at the sound of the bedroom door opening and Livvie slipping in, "Is everything ok, Olivia?"

"Yes, she's sound asleep—it's been so long since I've done this, but I can remember when she was an infant that I always snuck into her room right before I went to bed to make sure she was sleeping soundly. And then after we lost Amelia I began doing it again until Alex came along. I guess it's just a part of me."

"It's your maternal instinct to keep your children safe," he said as he walked towards her and slipped his arms around her waist.

"Is everything ok with you, Caleb?"

"I received word today that Marius is on the move."

Livvie's eyes went huge as she whipped around to stare at Caleb directly, "You don't think he's going to come here, do you? I'll die before I let that hellish monster lay eyes on our daughter again."

"Hey—hey. I don't know if he's headed here, but if he does decide to show up here you can bet me he's going to regret ever stepping foot in Daia. Tara is my daughter too, and I will protect her until the day I die—just like I know you will too."

-------------------

Andrew wheezed, trying to ignore the fact that a girl he'd been trying not to fantasize about was now laying on top of him--even if it were in a less than romantical way, "Yes—now will you please remove your elbow from my diaphragm—it's making it a little hard to breathe."

"Sorry," she said as she got off of Andrew and stood up, helping him up afterwards. "You want to tell us what you were doing sneaking around in the hall?"

He couldn't help but grin—he'd only been here for a day and could already tell that Kate's mannerisms were very similar to her father's, "Edward and myself ordered pizza and they are outside—I was taking him his money."

"You ordered pizza? Can I have some?" grinned Lizzie.

"Yeah, here's the money," he said as he handed over the money and waited for her to be down the hall. "You do that to all your company?"

"I guess I'm on edge a little bit—excuse me," she said as she stormed out of her apartment and across the hall to Eddie's.

"Hey—Kate, wait a second. I'm sorry—I know you are on edge and I understand that. You want to talk about it?"

"What is there to talk about? I mean I know Tara is safe now, but I keep wondering if this Marius guy is going to come after her or me again."

"First of all—you are right, Tara is safe. I think I was wrong about Caleb before—I mean I don't know the guy, but I believe he loves his daughter very much. Second—Marius isn't going to come anywhere near you or your family—not as long as there is me, Eddie, and your father looking after you. So stop pouting with that pretty face of yours and live like you are used to Katrina."

She couldn't help but smile at what he had just said—it was as if he could make a dreary rainy, icy-cold day turn into the warmest day of the year just by reminding her of what she already knew. "Thanks, Andrew—now how about we join my siblings for pizza before they eat all of it."

Andrew smiled at seeing her smile—how she did that to him he hadn't figured out yet, but he was glad she had this effect on him, "Ok—let's go."

-----------------------

"Alison, Angel—I know you think you know what you are talking about, but I think you are stretching this just a bit," laughed Rafe as he stood up and went into the closet to get a light jacket.

"Really? Let's see—did you ever entrust Ian with your life?"

"You know that answer."

"Just go along with the inquisition, Mr. Kovich."

"Yes, many times."

"And what about Grayson and Claus?"

"Yes—and I still do with Grayson, just like Ian."

"So you can easily say this—and you can say the same about we now trust Danny around Christina and all the other kids—even though he's been gone for years. So why is it so hard to trust Andrew with the same group of kids?"

"I—I guess I just remember it wasn't too long ago that Daniel came back and instantly him and Christina fit, and well if the same goes for Andrew—him and Katrina are going to fit just as easily."

"Oh Rafe," giggled Alison as she walked over to him and slid his jacket off his arms. "First of all—no matter what, Kate's going to be your little girl, and second of all—you have way too many clothes on right now."

--------------------

"I know you will protect, Tara—I've never doubted that Caleb. It's just—that life has suddenly given us a hand that I never saw coming. I mean how did he know where the girls were going to be? How did he hunt them down with none of us knowing?

"I think I feel worse for Jasmine—she must be beating herself up about all of this now. To think he somehow came up with a way to block her visions. I bet he's in cahoots with Myra—this is her revenge for tricking her from starting the war again."

Caleb sighed at listening to Livvie—she was getting way to close to the truth and he had just moments to react before she realized the truth, a truth that he knew could easily start up the war again. He tried to put calmness and reassurance in his voice as he pulled her towards him, "Hey—let's put all these crazy things to rest for the night. All that matters is our daughter is safe, Jasmine has her visions back, and me and you—are alone."

"But—Caleb—."

"Shhh, my love. Just—fall—into—my—movements," he said kissing her neck with each word as he began to slowly waltz her around the room—pulling her into a trance that he hoped would make her forget about the thoughts that had just been in her head.


	16. Chapter 16

"I can't believe I'm letting you tell her this," grinned Jack as he walked from the kitchen and to Leslie's room.

"Oh come on—I can at least for a small second make Shorty think her worst nightmare is coming true," smiled Chris as he signed a chart and handed it back to Colleen.

"At least let me get on the other phone and listen to this conversation."

"See—you're getting a kick out of this too."

"Whatever. Hey Shorty—telephone."

"Who is it?" she asked as she took the phone from Jack and he wentto his bedroom.

"It's your old man," grinned Chris.

"Hey Dad. What's going on?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. Jack said he lightened up on your punishment for the next few days."

"Yeah—he said I can call Lizzie later, I thought she might be you. Have you seen her?"

"No, but I do have something important to tell you about," he said as he heard the faint click of another line being picked up. "You know how every year Elizabeth comes for a visit."

"Uhm—yeah," she said wondering where this was going.

"Well, I've decided I'm not going to fight the inevitable anymore."

"The inevitable?"

-

Shivers went up Delia's spine as she watched the large solid front door of the Manor shake as she walked towards it. She opened the door and had to strain her head back to see the man standing in front of her. His hair was long and black and his eyes seemed to be nothing but black also. She lost her voice for a moment, but then found it and spoke, "Can I help you?"

"I'm here to speak to Caleb Morley," said the large man as he stood looming over Delia.

"I'm sorry—he's having dinner with his wife at the moment."

"I'll wait."

"Fine, the Library is right this way," she said as she motioned towards it and once he was in she shut and locked the doors, though she wondered if it would do any good. She went down the hall and walked into the doorway of the dining room, "Caleb?"

Caleb's head went up immediately and he saw a look in Delia's eyes that he hadn't seen since he had been a child and she caught him with a frog in her kitchen, "Is there something wrong, Delia?"

"There's a man in the Library that is wishing to speak to you—I told him you were having dinner, but he said he would wait."

"Very well, I'll be right back," he said giving Livvie a kiss on the cheek and walking out of the room. Halfway down the hall he felt Delia grab his arm, "What is it?"

"Whatever you did Caleb I'll forgive you, don't forget that," she said as she leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek and a squeeze of the hand before turning and walking away.

Caleb gave a sigh at having seemed to disappoint Delia before walking in, "What are you doing here Marius?" he asked to the large man as he stood in the library studying the bookcase.

-

"When she comes in a few weeks I'm going to ask her to marry me and move back to Port Charles. We'll be one big happy family," he said and received nothing but silence. "Leslie? You there?"

"Dad—I think you need to spend a few sessions with Dr. Collins because you have completely lost your mind."

"But I love her Leslie. Elizabeth is-."

"Stop. Just stop—I can't listen to you starting to spurt out the virtues of a woman that drives everyone up the wall. Please tell me you aren't serious."

"I am—of course she might not be able to leave Los Angeles so we might be moving there—away from everyone," he said as he tapped his pen on his desk.

"Really?" she said as she thought she heard a muffled laugh on the other end and began walking down the hall and towards her parent's room. "So my best friend's grandmother will be my step mom?"

"Yep."

Leslie rolled her eyes as she opened the bedroom door and saw Jack sitting on the bed with the phone to his ear. "You two are so busted."

-

"I'm here for my wife," he said with a smirk on his face.

"Excuse me? No, she is not your wife—that was never part of the deal."

"Well, I've changed the deal—unless you want me to go tell your wife what you've done."

"No, you will not tell anyone what I did—and besides, they won't believe you. I love my daughter, and this has not changed how I feel about her in the least. You want more money—then fine, take it," he said as he opened a desk drawer and pulled out a large stack of cash. "If you come back, I will deny that I know you—if you tell anyone about what I used your services for you can bet that I will make sure Andrew Veener and every other Slayer out there has an easy shot at you."

"You sure seem sure of yourself, Morley."

"Oh believe me I am," said Caleb with a grin on his face and he turned at the sound of the door opening. "Olivia."

"I wanted to see if you needed anything—something to drink, perhaps?" she asked as she looked at the man closely and then to Caleb.

"No thank you my love," he said as he smiled at her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"This,"

"I'm sorry—," said Marius as he walked towards Livvie and took her hand before kissing it, "My name is—," he didn't finish as Caleb swiped his hand away.

"I believe it is time for you to be leaving," said Caleb as his eyes went cold again.

"Very well. It was lovely to meet you, Olivia—and keep in mind what I said, Caleb," he said as he began to walk out and Caleb followed him, closing the door to the library.

Caleb grabbed Marius' arm and twisted it, causing Marius to turn and become face to face with him, "Marius—next time you touch my wife, you'll come back with a bloody stump. Are we clear?"

"Crystal."

"Good," said Caleb as he shoved Marius out into the night and slammed the door on him. "Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Caleb as he walked back into the library from seeing Marius out.

"I haven't seen this side of you in awhile, Caleb," said Olivia as she leaned back on the arm of the antique sofa.

-

"Whose brilliant idea to nearly give me a heart attack was this?"

"It was all his," said Jack as he laughed.

"You know what this is? It's called cruel and unusual punishment," she said with a half smile.

"Yeah, but wouldn't it be great if that was the truth?" laughed Chris.

"No—it wouldn't be. It would be—it's like I would be living the worst nightmare I ever had over and over for the rest of my life until I go to college and then I'd make sure I was going to University of Alaska for my undergrad so I couldn't come home very much and for my thesis I'd go study the mating rituals of polar bears in Siberia."

"Does Siberia have polar bears, Jack?"

"I don't know—I guess they do."

"Are you two even listening to me?" she yelled.

"Yeah—you said you wanted to study polar bears and live in Siberia."

"NO! I hate the cold—you both know that. I was just saying it because you two are sitting here thinking it's funny to make me believe Elizabeth Barrington is going to soon be my stepmother."

"Like I said it was his idea," said Jack as he hung up his phone. "Now tell him goodbye and go call the Kovich house—I think someone is expecting a call."

"Really?" she said as her eyes got huge. "I love you dad, bye," she said as she hung up the phone quickly and went to her room.

Jack just laughed for a moment before getting up and seeing Jasmine coming in with groceries. "Here. Let me help you."

"What are you so happy about?" she asked.

"Polar Bears."

-

"Excuse me?" he chuckled as he poured himself a drink and looked at her to inquire if she wanted one also.

"No—nothing for me tonight, I want my head to stay clear. Unlike what you obviously did the other night also."

"Are you accusing me of something Olivia? And if so—what?"

"I'm not quiet sure. You've been acting like your old self lately—and I mean your _really_ old self—the one that was conniving and manipulative and sneaky as hell."

"The one you fell in love with?" he grinned as he took a sip.

Livvie wanted to smile but kept her face emotionless and her eyes on him—reading any body language he let slip through what was becoming a tougher exterior everyday, "Yep. That's the one. You've been hiding something from me lately and I thought I was close to figuring it out the other night when you gave me that night of passion, but I decided not to dig anymore. Then tonight our mystery guest comes in, forces Delia into making you speak to him at that moment and then when I come in—you push him out the door as quickly as possible."

"It's late," he shrugged—readying himself for the moment that those last few pieces of the puzzle were figured out by his wife.

"Whatever you've been hiding he knows what it is. What was his name again, Caleb?"

"It's of no significance," he shrugged off as he went towards the bookcase.

"You sure are being smug about this—and your smugness just makes my willingness to get to the bottom of who he is grow. Maybe I'll call Rafe—give him the description of the guy and see if he knows who he is."

"Rafe doesn't know him and there's no reason for you to ever talk to him again," he said as he stared up at the bookshelf and his eye caught the spine of the diaries. "Anyways—he's never going to harm our family again," he said under his breath.

"What did you just say?"

"Hmm? I didn't say anything, my love," he said giving a slight glance back but knowing the moment was near.

"Yes you did. You said he wouldn't ever harm—," said Livvie but froze before the rest of the statement came out. Her face went pale for a moment before she muttered, "Turn and face me Caleb. Turn and tell me to my face that that man was _not_ Marius. That you didn't set up this whole twisted thing."

Caleb turned but wasn't able to look at her.

"Caleb—this is where you are supposed to say that wasn't Marius. That wasn't the man that harmed our daughter. Because if it had been I know you—I know you would have killed him on the spot. WHY AREN'T YOU SAYING ANYTHING!" she screamed and then slipped down onto the sofa and sobbed. "My God Caleb, what did you do? Why was he here?"

Caleb knew better than try to console her at the moment—or deny the truth she'd just come to know. When he finally figured out what he wanted to say it came out as a soft whisper, "Amelia."

"Amelia? What does having Tara turned have to do with our angel?"

"I—I kept thinking of having to see Tara grow old and then having to say goodbye to her just like I said goodbye to Amelia. You of all people should understand that."

"I do—I've thought about that too. But there's a difference Caleb—between now and when we say goodbye to Tara we're going to get to see her fall in love, have children, and love the life she chose for herself. We'll have more memories of her than we can ever imagine. I'm fine with letting her go at the end of her natural life because I know she'll have lived it to the fullest."

"Well, I'm not," he huffed as he walked towards the fire and kneeled down to it.

Livvie's heart broke as she realized what Caleb meant by that, "Are you saying you will not let her go to the Spring when she's strong enough?"

"I will never lose another child of mine—ever Olivia. EVER."

"Oh, well then I was wrong about you. I thought you loved her, but I was mistaken. And I was also mistaken you've changed—you're still a monster Caleb," she said so calm she scared herself as she stood up and walked to the door. "As for losing another child—Caleb, when she finds out what you've done—and she will find out—you'll realize you've already lost her."

He turned on his heel after hearing the door closed and stood up—he knew he was in his castle right now but as he threw the glass across the room and watched it shatter on the closed door he could have sworn he was standing in the midst of a pile of rubble.


	17. Chapter 17

Caleb grimaced as the room filled with light, blinking a few times before it came into focus. "Delia?" he asked as he sat up on the couch and looked around the room—she'd already been cleaning up the mess he'd made since Livvie had left him the previous night. He watched her in silence as she continued to clean up but never looking towards him or acting like he even existed, "Delia—I thought you said you'd forgive me."

"I did and I will, but I didn't say I wouldn't be angry with you at first. What you are doing to your wife and daughter is cruel, Caleb. I couldn't get Ms. Olivia asleep until I put a family remedy for sleeping in her tea and forced her to drink it."

"Where is she now?"

"In Tara's room with the door locked tight. I know you're a smart man Caleb—and you'll avoid both of them until they come looking for you," she said as she turned and began to leave the Library.

"Where are you going now?"

"I might be angry with you and be disgusted with what you did, but I can't let you starve," she said with a sigh and slight smile.

* * *

Christina sat there on the edge of the tub looking at her watch—it'd been hard enough to get away from everyone else to get it yesterday, but now sitting on the tub for the next few minutes was even harder. Her mind spun with how to tell Danny—if there was anything to tell him at all.

She glanced at her watch again and picked up the test and smiled, "Two pink lines. Now let's go find Danny."

* * *

"Where is he?" asked Livvie as she walked into the kitchen with the lunch tray in her hands.

"He went to town—or so he says. For all I know he went to find that awful man and kill him like he should have last night," spoke Delia quietly as she took the tray from Livvie. "How is the little one doing this afternoon?"

"She's fine—stronger than she was yesterday. I don't know how I'm going to get her to the springs without him knowing."

"It'll all come into focus soon enough my dear. Why don't you spend some time in the Library? I'm sure Caleb won't return until nightfall."

* * *

"You two always go walking this early?" hollered Christina as her and Bailey caught up to Daniel and Ian who had left for an early morning walk.

"Yeah. Daniel and I used to do it a lot—we were just talking about how fast everything changes."

"Tell me about it," she smiled as she took Danny's hand and Ian grabbed the ball from Bailey and tossed it for him to go retrieve. "Danny—I was thinking I should learn more Irish while I'm here. I know I won't be here for very long, but maybe you could teach me some?"

"Sure. What words do you want to know?"

"How about the Irish word for daughter?"

"Iníon," he said in a deeper tone than he normally spoke.

"And son?"

"Mac. Like McDonald's means Son of Donald. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," she nodded as they walked a little further and she tried to practice the pronunciation before saying it out loud. "So which do you want to have?"

"Hmmm?" he said as he stopped taking in the landscape and looked at her. "Which one of what?"

"An iníon or a mac?" she smiled at him.

"Christina," was all he was able to get out before he pulled her into a hug—looking over at her shoulder to see his dad walking back down the hill, turning to look at him once with a huge smile on his face.

* * *

Livvie ran her hands over the diaries and then looked up above them—seeing the book Caleb had purposely put out of her reach. She pulled over the small ottoman and climbed up to grab it, sitting down on the ottoman and studying the book—flipping through the pages that seemed to be of no use to her or Caleb until she came to a page where the corner had been bent down recently. When she heard movement in the hallways she slammed the book shut and put it behind her until she saw Delia coming in, "It's only you."

"Did you find something dear?"

"The day I came in Caleb was looking at this book so I was just looking at it and found this—is it saying what I think it is?" she asked while pointing to the specific incantation. "Would this keep Jasmine from having visions? And specifically Jasmine—not her sisters."

Delia gave a loud sigh, "I'm afraid so."

"I can't believe he did this—he had this thing so perfectly planned out that he caused her pain and agony of thinking she was going crazy for months."

"I think he was scared he'd disappoint her if she knew the truth and he also didn't want to put the burden of telling you all what he was doing. It's not right—I know—but in some way I think he believes he was protecting all of you."

"We don't need protection. What all of us needed was truth and honesty—something that I believe my husband has forgotten how to give to others, myself and my children included."

* * *

"Can you imagine my mother's reaction when I tell her the news? She'll have the nursery decorated before we get home," laughed Christina as they sat on the hillside—they had been spending the last few hours like this—just sitting and talking of the life that now seemed to await them.

Danny chuckled, "Along with all the newest baby fashions."

"Definitely. And I thought it'd just be a big wedding I'd have to look forward to in the next year—she's going to be double frazzled."

"Then let's make it easier on her and get married without her knowing. My parents did when they found out I was coming."

Christina looked up at him and laughed, "You want to go find a priest who is renovating an old monestary that's really a vampire in disguise?"

"I wasn't going to go that far, but we could just go to the local Priest and have him marry us."

She loved the idea but shook her head no, "My mom would be heartbroken if we did that. Plus, with everything that's going on I know Livvie would be able to come."

"Then we'll call her and your father up and have them come to Ireland. Just a small thing with our parents, and then—when everything is settled with Livvie and them your mom can throw a huge gala event for us."

She sighed with happiness as she sunk back into him, "I love you Thornhart."

"Me too," he said as he kissed the top of her head.


	18. Chapter 18

I hope you enjoy this and there are only 5 chapters left—wow! Until next time—ya'll are the best—PCGirl.

* * *

Livvie had made sure that Delia was keeping an eye on Tara when she finally decided to take a walk. She'd wandered through the rose garden some-snipping off a few buds here and there. Before she knew it she was under the arbor at the entrance to the graveyard and sighed as she walked over to Tara and Elena's graves. She knelt down and laid down the rose buds before speaking. 

"I guess I need to apologize-though I'm not sure what I'm apologizing for. Well, I know what it's for-it's because the end of the Morley-Kovich peace is about to end. I really thought it was going to last past my lifetime-but my husband, he seems to have plans of his own. I'm sure Trevor did something you disagreed with before, Tara-killing Gregory was a pretty big one, whether it was by accident or a sudden loss of temper. I can't put off the inevitable," she said as took out her cell phone and dialed-hitting the last number with trepidation.

"Hello," said Alison quickly as she grabbed her cell phone without looking at the ID.

"Hey-it's me."

"Livvie-hey, how is everything?"

"It's not good Alison. It's about to start again."

"What is?" asked Alison as she froze in mid-step.

"The war. When I tell you this and you tell Rafe I know it's going to restart and there is nothing we can do to stop it-."

"Livvie-you aren't making sense. Is Tara ok?"

"She's a vampire—how can she be ok?" snapped Livvie. "My precious little ray of sunshine is a vampire and it's all because of her father."

"What? Are you sure Livvie? I mean it's kind of a stretch to say that-right?"

"No, it's not. Caleb paid off Marius to turn Tara. He knew Andrew would be following him so Kate was never in danger. I don't know what to do-I haven't told Tara yet, she's going to be heartbroken."

"Livvie-I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say."

"There's not much more you can say," spoke Livvie as she heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Caleb standing there. "I need to go-I'm sure you're going to tell Rafe this and I'm fine with it. I'll talk to you soon, Ali."

"Bye Livvie," said Alison as she hung up the phone and gave a loud sigh before grabbing her purse and heading over to the Gym.

* * *

"Was is really necessary to call Alison at the first sign of trouble?"

"Yes because I think the others need to know about what is about to hit us all. Over the past twenty years we've created a trust with everyone in Port Charles and in one fell swoop you've crashed through—lately any trust that has been lost can be rebuilt. But I don't know about this time Caleb—this time it might just be too much for anyone to try and rebuild.

"I know about Jasmine—I know you had everything to do with her sudden lack of visions. I should have seen it before—that's why you didn't tell Rafe about Jack calling because you knew what was going on."

"Would it help for you to know that I gave Marius that incantation—that I never once said those words myself?"

"No," she said as she shook her head and her eyes landed on his ring. "I swear, Caleb—if I could get that wretched ring off your stupid hand I would wish I had never met you—that maybe my life could have turned out better than it has," she yelled as she stormed to the arbor.

"Olivia—wait. You don't mean that."

"Probably not, but it sure is a nice thought. Stay away from me until you've figured out a way to allow your daughter to be human once more, ok?"

* * *

Alison walked into the gym to see Rafe cleaning up, "Hey." 

"Hi," he smiled as he came over and pulled her into a hug and kiss. "How was your day?"

"It was ok," she said as she glanced at the stairwell, hoping the kids wouldn't come down. "I talked to Livvie."

"Yeah? Tara still doing well?" he asked as he continued to walk around the gym.

"Well—it seems to depend on which parent you ask," she said as Rafe stopped what he was doing and looked at her.

"What does that mean?"

"Marius was paid by Caleb to turn Tara. Livvie found out last night and—well, I'm not sure if she's totally distraught at the idea of her husband still being a backstabber or furious that she didn't catch on earlier." She watched Rafe stand there motionless, "Say something."

"What can I say? I mean other than saying once a snake, always a snake there isn't much to say," he yelled as she slammed a drawer closed and watched her jump. "I'm sorry—it's just—I finally trusted him and he does this. Did she give a reason? No—you know what, it doesn't matter because I'm going there and telling him the reasons he should take her to the spring instead of making her live with that curse," he said as he began storming to the door but was stopped as she grabbed his wrist.

"Listen, that's fine—you do what you have to do. But can I ask you two little things first?"

"Sure."

"I think Livvie could use someone to make her smile because seeing Tara now, like she is, is just going to make her mad—maybe you can take Miranda to be with her mom, they both need each other. And secondly—promise me you'll come back to both of us."

"I will—I've always come back to you before, Angel, and I'm not going to stop now," he leaned down and gave her a deep kiss before leaving.

* * *

"I'm—."

"Stop it, Livvie. I swear if you say you're sorry one more time I might just hang up on you," said Jasmine with a laugh through her tears.

"I—I can't help it," laughed Livvie through her tears also. "He just made me so mad, Jasmine. I actually told him I'd make a wish on his ring that I never met him if it was possible," she said as she sat on the balcony outside her bedroom.

"I understand, but it's going to work out in the end."

"How do you know for sure? I mean you can't see the future, just the present."

"Well, I guess I know for sure because with Caleb and Rafe it always has. Caleb always does the right thing."

"Not always."

"Fine, not always—but since I came to town most of the time he's done the right thing—this definitely being one of those times," she said as she heard a car door slam and looked out the window. "Jack's home."

"Oh great—I can just hear him now going on and on about Caleb when you tell him the news," laughed Livvie.

"Yeah, he can do that sometimes," she laughed herself. "Call me later if you need to—and give your girls a big hug for me."

"Girls?"

"I might not be able to see the future, but I do have some ability to see what is coming your way," said Jasmine as they said their goodbyes and she tried to dry her eyes before walking around the corner and greeting Jack. "Hi."

"Hey—you already missing Leslie?" he asked with a laugh as he took off his jacket.

"Yeah, but that's not why I was just crying," she said as she motioned for Jack to sit down. "Everything that's happened—from the girls getting kidnapped to my lack of visions was a result of a plan Caleb had."

Jack sat there for a moment before getting up and beginning to pace, "That bloodsucking backstabber was behind it? This is why I don't like him—I mean I know you have close connections to his family and him, but he's always done this to my friends—always. And for him to do that to his own daughter—." He stopped his rant when he noticed Jasmine was laughing, "You think this is funny?"

"No, far from it—but Livvie just said she could imagine your reaction to the news and I'm pretty sure this is exactly what she was thinking."

* * *

shot of Lucy handing Rafe a bag with Miranda's things in it and giving Rafe a big hug before he picks up Miranda and asks her if she's ready to see her mama again.

shot of Jack standing at the window watching the sunset, Jasmine comes up behind him and puts her arms around him, telling him it'll be ok.

shot of Livvie taking a deep breath and wiping her eyes before she walks into Tara's room—locking the door behind her

shot of Caleb standing in the foyer of the Manor looking up the staircase and at his surroundings before he goes into the library, closing the door behind him.


	19. Chapter 19

Christina gave Daniel and Ian both a grin as she took the cordless phone and went outside to sit on the small bench in the middle of Maeve's garden. She quickly dialed and heard her dad's voice on the other end, "Dad—hi."

"Hey sweetheart. How is everything in Ireland?"

"It's great—the weather has been perfect the whole time and everything is so green—I never imagined it looking like this. It's a painter's paradise."

Kevin couldn't help but smiling, "I'm glad you are enjoying yourself. Here's your mom—she's jumping up and down for me to give her the phone. Talk to you soon sweetheart."

"Bye Dad," she said as she waited for the exchange of persons to take place and waited for her mom. "Mom—hi."

"Hey pumpkinhead—I'm surprised to hear you calling today. Is everything ok?"

"It's great—I've got some good news actually. Daniel and I—we found out we're going to be parents sooner than we imagined."

Lucy's mouth dropped as she grabbed Kevin's hand and squeezed it tight, "My little pumpkinhead's going to have her own pumpkinhead. I'm going to be—a—grandmother. Of course, I won't have them call me that—perhaps Lulu. I was at Wyndham's yesterday and they have their new line of bedding out—it's so perfect Christina, you'll just love everything."

Christina started laughing under her breath as she listened to her mom begin to describe everything she saw to a T.

"I'm going to have a lot on my plate—organizing a wedding and trying to decorate your nursery, but that's what Don is for."

"Well, Danny and I thought about that and we're going to help you out in a way. We want to have our wedding here."

Lucy smacked the phone against Kevin's leg real quick and put it back up to her ear, "The signal must be going bad because I swear you just said you want to get married in Ireland."

"You heard me right Mom. We're just going to have a small thing here in a local chapel with a local Priest doing a small ceremony. Later—when everything is calm with Tara and Livvie—."

"Oh honey—you don't know the latest, do you?"

"I do—I talked to Livvie earlier and told her this already. She said for me to go ahead with everything now—and that she'll be there for the big party we know you'll throw when we all get back to Port Charles," she laughed as she looked to see Daniel walking outside and closing the door behind her. "Serena can't leave her work right now either—but I'm hoping you and Dad will be there."

"Oh pumpkin—we'll always be there for you," said Lucy as she wiped the tears away from her eyes.

* * *

"Katrina?" called Andrew from the closed door when there was no answer. It had been hours since she'd locked herself in her apartment since learning the truth about Caleb. It had broken her heart, that was easy enough to tell, but he was hoping she'd talk to him—just a minute was all he was wanting to ask.

He began to give up and go on to Eddie's apartment when the door opened and he saw her standing there with a tear stained face. "Maybe they don't do this in Europe, but when someone doesn't want to talk to you they don't acknowledge a knock at the door-got it, buddy?" she yelled and began to slam the door but he blocked it with his foot. "What? You want to rub the fact that you were right in my face some more? I really don't feel like it tonight Andrew-ok? Maybe tomorrow-or better yet, maybe you should just head on home."

"Maybe I will," he said with a shrug as he let himself in. "And for the record I wanted to be wrong."

"When was that?" she snarked back as she went to get something to drink from the kitchen.

"When you told me your parents history and the history of Port Charles since Caleb came to town. You seemed like you wanted it be so true that I began to want the same. Caleb is different from Marius-."

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you."

Andrew rolled his eyes and ignored the look she gave him, "Marius never cared about love or family. The monster has cared only about one thing and that is greed and making sure there are no Slayers roaming the earth."

"Sounds like Caleb to me."

"Stop being a cynic for one second, Katrina."

"Fine, I'll stop," she said as she held in laughter at the look on his face. "Just tell me-when did you become President of the Caleb Morley Fan Club?"

"I'm not by any means. I guess I watched you see your hope he had nothing to do with this get shattered and I wanted you to see that I had started to have the same hope as you. You aren't alone in this."

"Really? You sure about that—because right now I really do feel alone," she said as she began to cry again and fell to the floor.

Andrew watched for a moment and then proceded with caution as he sat down on the floor next to her and pulled her into a hug. A minute later the door cracked open and Eddie stuck his head in the door to ask if everything was ok—Andrew silently shook his head yes and Eddie left.

* * *

"Delia," smiled Rafe as he gave the woman a kiss on the cheek at the door. He looked past her and saw Livvie walking down the stairs. "And I believe this little one is yours," he said handing her over.

"Hi sweetheart—were you good for Rafe?" she smiled at her little girl and looked at Rafe, "You didn't have to bring her."

"It was more Alison's idea than mine," she said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Is he in there?" he asked as Livvie nodded. "Can't hold off the inevitable as he went into the library and slammed the door behind him.

"What took you so long, Slayer? Had to stop in town and ask for directions?" chuckled Caleb slightly as he barely looked up.

"I can't believe you—you-."

"Snake? Mongrel? Rat? What is your word of insult this week, Rafe?"

"You know what? I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of being called anything by me."

"I'm hurt."

"I should hurt you. You do realize Marius didn't have to agree to the rules you'd laid out—besides, I thought vampires didn't have rules, they made life too messy and orderly. He could have come in and killed both our girls instantly without batting an eye."

"Yeah? And if he had done that then you and I would have gone after him and killed him."

"And when I found out the truth you would be dead right along with him."

"Where's all this anger coming from, Rafe?"

Rafe laughed, "Excuse me? Uhm—hi—Caleb, you just set up and accomplished a plan in which your daughter was turned into a vampire against her will, and placed my daughter in harms way. Luckily, Andrew was there to protect Kate. Don't even get me started on how your actions mirror Roderick's not so long ago."

"I am nothing like my father," said Caleb through gritted teeth as he stood up and faced his adversary.

"You sure about that? Let's see—cares only about himself? Check. Ruthless in his pursuit in what he believes is his? Check. Cocky as hell? Double check! Face it Caleb—you have turned yourself into what Roderick wanted. Sure—for a good eighteen years you became somewhat human again, but the taste of treachery was too much, wasn't it?"

"Treachery? You think I did this to restart the war?" he said with a grin and looked around the room. "I don't want to start the war again between us—actually, I've kind of enjoyed the peace of not hearing your whiny self tell me ad nauseam that he's watching my every move."

"Then please—oh please, great Caleb Morley—enlighten me as to why you felt it was necessary to have your daughter Tara turned despite her wishes? Hmmm?"

"You wouldn't understand—nobody does except myself it seems. I thought Olivia would understand, but she'd accepted it."

"Accepted what?"

"Having to watch another one of our girls get older and die before us," said Caleb under his breath.

"That's life Caleb. You can't force someone to live forever when they don't want to. I don't know why you didn't go to the springs when you were first turned—but you chose to accept the fate that was handed to you at that moment. I've watched Tara grow up, and I think I know her pretty good. She's not going to accept this fate—she'll fight it until she makes it to the springs. When she gets to the springs—accept the fate that she wasn't meant to be a vampire—it'll make it a lot easier on all of us," said Rafe—finishing his speech and leaving before Caleb gave him his rebuttal.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: OMG—do you realize there is this chapter and then 2 more and this story is done? I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Maybe a little of both. LOL—thanks to my 2 Awians who were no help whatsoever. Well, maybe you were more of a help than I realized the other day. : ) Everyone enjoy! Until next time—ya'll are the best—PCGirl.

* * *

Tara walked from the seat she'd been in to the table and picked up the cordless phone, "Hello?" 

Kate was surprised at hearing the voice on the other line but smiled, "Tara—hi. How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok—today is better than yesterday and so forth. My mom's been MIA for most of the day though—usually she's checking on me every ten minutes," she laughed.

"Well, between keeping our dad's from fighting takes a lot of work," she laughed loudly.

"What are you talking about? Is your dad here?"

Kate froze and cursed under her breath, "Yeah—I thought you knew."

"Why would he be here though?"

"Tara—I don't want to be the one to tell you."

"Just get it out of the way and say it—ok?"

"Marius—he was hired by your father to have you kidnapped and turned. I'm sorry I had to tell you."

Tara was silent before she began to yell, "Why? Why are you lying to me? That's crazy—I mean why would my father want me to be a vampire? And you—you were with me so how did he know Andrew would be there to save you?"

"I don't know—I guess he paid Marius to make sure Andrew was there so I wouldn't get hurt."

"Wouldn't get hurt?" she laughed as she turned to see Caleb, Livvie, and Rafe walk in. "I hate you."

"I didn't do anything though," cried Kate as she wished someone were around right now.

"You obviously mean more to my family than I do—for them to make sure you were safe and sound while they threw me to the wolves," she said while glaring at her father. "I don't want to talk to you again—you understand that Katrina Kovich? I don't want anything to do with you again," she yelled as she hung up the phone and looked at her father.

"Tara," he said softly as he walked towards her.

"Stop—I don't want anything to do with you ever again—you are dead to me. In case you don't understand that in English here's another versionTu eşti mort la spre eu."

"I'm sorry—I just."

"You just what? Wanted to keep me under your spell forever? Wanted to end my friendship with Kate," she said as she looked at Rafe for a moment. "Answer me Father—Answer me!"

* * *

Ian tapped his hand against his leg as he watched the others get off the plane and smiled when he saw Lucy and Kevin come into view and waved, "Collins—over here!" 

"Ian!" grinned Lucy as she went running up and hugging him tightly. "Where are they? I have so many plans I need to run by with Christina," she asked in one continuous sentence.

He laughed and scratched his head, "Maeve has a friend that is making a wedding dress for Christina—they are working on it now. Kevin," he said shaking his hand.

"Ian," he smiled.

"So let's get your luggage and hurry up—there's somewhere I want to take you two before we meet up with the kids."

Lucy grinned huge as she followed Ian with Kevin rolling his eyes and laughing at her nonstop excitement.

* * *

Livvie grabbed Caleb's arm and dragged him out of the room, with Rafe following. "First—Rafe don't say it, I know what you are thinking and wipe that damn smile off your face and go call Alison. Have her go talk to Kate and get her to believe Tara didn't mean any of that," she said, snapping at first but becoming calmer at the end. 

"Second—Caleb it's obviously not a good idea for you to talk to her now. Let me try first—ok? Have Delia bring up some soup or soothing tea, please," she said, finishing by turning on her heel and going down the walkway towards the room she was using.

"Where are you going?" asked Caleb.

"To get the one thing that might keep her off the edge of being a textbook case of someone with the Locke-Collins genes," she shouted as she went to her room and slammed the door shut.

* * *

Ian pulled up to the gray stone building and walked towards the door, "This is it. I hadn't been here recently, but Daniel remembered it immediately and insisted they get married here." 

"It's gorgeous," said Lucy as she placed her hand on the stone and felt the energy coming from the building.

"Wait til you see the inside," he laughed as he pulled open the large wooden door and walked in, opening the other door to actually enter sanctuary.

Kevin immediately noticed all the wood and detailing that was done to restore this gorgeous building and smiled, "I see why you once picked this place Ian—and I can't help wonder why Danny is still drawn here."

Ian laughed, "I know. It reminds me of where Eve and I said our first vows to each other."

"Except its much more."

"Happier," finished Lucy. "I can tell there have been a lot of tears shed here—more good than bad, instead of the—." She didn't finish the statement as to keep away any bad karma. "So where is the Priest?"

"Father Timothy should be somewhere around here," he said as he walked out to the foyer and called his name but got no response and went back to where Kevin and Lucy were.

"Can I help you?" asked a man as he walked into the sanctuary with them.

"I was looking for Father Timothy. He's doing out children's wedding tonight."

"Mr. Thornhart? Yes, he told me to be expecting you—he's very sorry that he can't make it tonight—he was called out on an emergency and won't return until tomorrow morning. I can do the service though if you don't mind."

"That's fine. What is your name?" asked Ian.

"I'm Father Michael," he said as he held out his hand and Ian shook his hand heartily—keeping a straight face the entire time.

"Nice to meet you—I'm Kevin Collins and this is my wife Lucy," he said as he shook each of their hands. "We need to be getting back to our children, but we'll see you later this evening."

"Very well. See you then," he smiled as they walked past him and back out to the car.

Kevin sat in the car for a good minute before he finally spoke up with a laugh, "Maybe I'm just paranoid but maybe we should call Rafe when we get back to your place, Ian. You know—just to make sure Caleb's really there."

"You read my mind, Collins," laughed Ian.

* * *

Livvie's heart broke at watching her little girl standing there on the porch. She knew what she was thinking and feeling—that she'd lost everyone she ever believed in and trusted, but Livvie knew that wasn't the case either. "Tara," she spoke softly. 

"Go away. I don't want to talk to anyone."

"Not even your sister?" she asked as she sat Miranda down and she went running to Tara's legs squealing with glee.

Tara looked down at her and smiled, "Hey sweetie—what have you been up to?"

"Picked flowers for you, Taya," she said as she handed her the small bunch of wildflowers she had in her hand.

"Why thank you. You might be the only person that I still know I can trust," she said as she looked at her Mom's face drop suddenly. "I'm sorry—I didn't mean that."

"You're mad at Caleb and you have every right to be," said Livvie as she sat down on the chair and Miranda came to crawl in her lap. "Believe me—I've been mad at the world before—including my best friend."

"I hurt Kate's feelings by saying what I did—I didn't mean to but I was so mad that it seems like Dad even made sure she was safe. Why? Why did he want that man to know where we were? Why did he want to make me something I don't want to be?"

"He thought he was doing the right thing—I think now he knows about how bad it would hurt you to stay like this.

"You know—for a long time I didn't have my best friend around. I pushed her away and hated her and the rest of the world and there were times when I could have used my best friend to be there. You're mad at Kate right now because you believe the world loves her more than you, but that's not the truth sweetheart. We love both of you so much and were so scared when we thought either of you were still in harms way—and when they found Kate, she went running into Marius' castle only thinking about saving you from him.

"Don't be mad at her for so long you miss sharing in the important moments in each other's lives, ok?" smiled Livvie as she went up and sat Miranda down in her lap, kissing the top of Tara's head in the process.

"Ok," smiled Tara slightly.

"It's a beautiful sunset, isn't it?" asked Ian as he walked out the back door to see Kevin looking at the landscape. "You've been to Ireland before, right?"

"Yes—it's a gorgeous country," he smiled as he took a sip of the beer Ian handed him. "I was just thinking about how everything has come full circle in our lives. Today—with the sudden change of Priest's, and his name—it just had me thinking."

"Caleb changed our lives—sometimes I wonder how they'd be different if he wasn't here."

Kevin shrugged, "You wonder too much and you miss life. But I wanted to say something to you Ian. When you left Port Charles I was able to finally have the life I deserved to have with Lucy. I—I just wanted to say thank you for stepping to the side and for raising a great son like Danny."

"I think you should thank Eve for both of those things. She visited me shortly before I left—told me I'd find a love like hers again, and I see a lot more of Eve in him than myself."

"Well, then I guess I should be toasting Eve then," he said as he raised his glass to the sky and Ian doing the same before they both took a drink in honor of her.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Ok, I liedthis chapter was going to be incredibly long so I split it. So two more after this and I'm done-REALLY! I do hope you all love this chapter as much as I do. Until next time-PCGirl.

* * *

Caleb wasn't sure what came over him as he walked from the kitchen and towards the library—maybe it was just simply exhaustion from everything that had happened or maybe it was something more but he made it to the couch and laid down—soon dreaming of a life that was to possibly come. 

_He was standing there in the clearing and watching Tara and Kate give a quick hug before Kate began walking down the aisle ahead of her friend. He smiled as he daughter turned to him in her white wedding dress, "Are you ready, Dad?" she asked him as she came and gave him a kiss on the cheek._

"_I guess so," he sighed as he took her arm and looked at how beautiful she was._

"_I wanted to say thank you," she said as she waited for the music to change and to announce their entrance._

"_For what?" he asked as they took the mark that Lucy had given them time and time again._

"_For letting me be who I am—to do what I want to do."_

"_Anything for you, Sunshine," he smiled as he kissed her on the cheek and the music changed._

_A small light flashed and Caleb was standing in a white walled hospital room and saw her lying the bed with a small baby in her arms, "Hey—how are mom and baby doing?" he asked as he came over and kissed the top of her head—thinking how much she resembled her mother._

"_We're fine—say hi to Grandpa, Nicholas," she smiled as she handed her newborn to him. "I think he looks like you—that's why we gave him the middle name Caleb," she smiled._

_He grinned as the baby reached out and grabbed his finger tightly, "He's strong—just like a Morley should be."_

"_Half Morley and I know what you're thinking so stop. You have Alex to carry on the Morley name."_

"_I know," he said softly as he kissed the baby's forehead._

_There were other small glimpses of a life to come for his daughter—more children for her and he loved seeing her always smiling again—something he knew she hadn't been able to do in awhile._

_Then there was the moment he had hoped he'd never see—as he watched her lying in a bed—older than him and ready to pass onto the next world. She smiled weakly at him, "Dad—don't be sad. It's ok—I lived my life to the fullest. I did everything I wanted to do, ok?"_

"_I'll miss you," he said as he gave her hand a squeeze and held Livvie's shoulders with the other hands._

"_I know, but it's ok—you should have enough memories of me to last you the rest of your life."_

"_I don't know if that's possible," said Livvie as she wiped away the tears. "But we'll try sweetie," she smiled as she leaned down and kissed her daughter goodbye._

At that moment Caleb woke up and wiped the tears from his eyes—he knew what he had to do, whether he liked the outcome or not.

* * *

"I'll talk to you later mom," said Kate as she gave her mom a big hug and closed the door behind her. She said a silent prayer for everything to be ok and began to walk over to the couch and sit down—she had barely made it when there came a knock on the door and she walked back to get it, "I'm fine." 

"Good," smiled Andrew with his sack over his shoulder.

"You going somewhere?" she asked, a smile appearing on her face even in her bleakest moment.

"I'm heading back home," he said quietly. "I figured everything is ok here now and it's safe for me to go."

"There have been no sightings of Marius for over a week—why do you need to go back?"

He gave a shrug, "It's home—sure it's just me living in that house but it's still my home, where I belong."

"What if I don't want you to go?"

* * *

Daniel took a deep breath and looked over at his dad that was standing in the place of the best man. His attention went back to the front doors and watched them open and Christina standing there with her arm around her father's. 

He smiled and wiped away a small tear as she came to the front and he took Kevin's hand to shake it and then took Christina's arm and leaned in and whispered, "You look beautiful.

"Thank you," she smiled as she listened to the Priest's words and then turned to start her vows. "I always knew the universe had a plan for everyone—I just never knew it would be you. I should have been surprised when you came back home to be an intern and we started being together but somewhere down inside I wasn't surprised because everything comes full circle. Life is what you make of it and I want to have the best life with you Danny—I'm so happy I'll get to call you my husband from this day on. I know the road will be tough and there are bridges we all have to cross—but I know it'll be better with you there beside me."

Danny took a deep breath before speaking, "Somewhere in my mind I remember being told to wish upon a star and if I continue to wish long enough and hard enough all your dreams will come true. Christina, you are my shining star that I've been looking for all my life—and as of today, right now, I know all my dreams have come true. I'm going to stand here today and tell you that I'm going to love you through the hard times and the bad, in sickness and health—not just for tonight, but for always. I love you Christina—I think I always have."

* * *

"You don't want me to go?" he repeated—shocked at her words. 

"No—not yet. I enjoy having you around—you're a good friend to have," she said as she thought something else—_I want to know what it's like to kiss you_.

"Oh, well—I really should at least get things in order there. And call Grayson—I'm sure he wants to know why I abandoned my duties like I did."

Kate realized it was now or never as she walked closer to him, "You know—there are more duties a slayer needs than hunting vampires and killing them."

"Oh? Is there?" he asked as he took a step backwards.

"Yeah, I mean a slayer has to have fun—lighten up a bit. I'm sure Grayson would agree with me," she smiled as she shut the apartment door. "But if you really need to go that's fine," she said as she turned away from him. "I was wondering—there's something I've wanted to know for awhile now."

"Yeah, what's that?" he stuttered out.

"It's nothing—too embarrassing to ask," she laughed at herself.

"Nothing is too embarrassing, Katrina."

"I—I just wanted to know what it's like to kiss you," she said as she turned to stare and see he looked like a deer in headlights. "I'm sorry—I should have never said that."

"No—don't be sorry. Is that really the thing you've wanted to know?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Well, the same for me—I mean after I got over thinking about how horribly stubborn you were to want to go chasing after Marius because he had Tara I began to realize it's not stubbornness. You've got a spark to you—or I guess what'd you say is a spunkiness to you," he smiled.

Kate laughed at the word he'd just used, "So are you saying you want to kiss me?"

"I—I wasn't—I didn't," he began to stutter out in succession as he tried to find the word he wanted.

"Ok, let's try this," she said as she walked towards him again and put his duffle sack on the floor. "There—now kiss me, ok? The world isn't going to end if you do," she laughed as he leaned in and kissed her.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: If some of these scenes look familiar then you were blessed to read the chapter before I realized my screw up with the last chapter—if not, don't worry about it, just enjoy. Until next time, and the last time—Ya'll truly are the best—PCGirl.

* * *

"I know what you did earlier," spoke Caleb quietly as he stared into his Brandy sniffer and then looked to see Rafe pouring himself a drink. 

"Want to elaborate on what I was supposed to do?" he laughed.

"Doing that stupid annoying Slayer trick where you climb into someone's head and give them visions."

"I hate to burst your bubble ol' friend, but I did nothing of the sort. But tell me—what does an old bat like yourself dream about?"

"Tara—her finding love, getting married like Christina and Daniel did tonight, having children. All that sappy stuff that you and Alison jabbered on about in the past," he grinned as he finished his drink.

"Yeah? Did you enjoy seeing that stuff?"

"Yeah, and then I had to watch her grow older than me and bury her in the Morley cemetery. I didn't like it one bit and I still don't like the idea—but I'll find a way to cross that bridge when it gets here," he said as he got up, finished his drink and walked towards the door.

"Where are you headed?"

"I'm tired of sleeping on that couch—it's not very comfortable at all. So I'm going to tell my wife my decision and sleep in a soft bed with her next to me tonight."

"I like that idea too, but I'll be back in the morning," said Rafe as he closed his eyes and transported himself out of the Manor.

"It would surprise me if you didn't," said Caleb out loud as he looked around the library and hit the lights before walking upstairs.

* * *

"Here we are, Mrs. Thornhart," smiled Danny as he carried Christina across the threshold and into the room they'd rented at a Bed and Breakfast nearby. He kissed her passionately once more.

"Mrs. Thornhart—I think I'm going to like hearing that more often," she smiled as he placed her on her feet and she just stared up at him. "I love you Danny."

"I love you too," he said as he turned to close and lock the door and then began walking her backwards to the bed. "Have I mentioned you looked gorgeous up there tonight," he said as he pushed back a stray curl of hers that had fallen out.

"I believe you did—once or twice," she grinned.

"This dress—the way you did your hair—everything made me want to take you in my arms like I'm doing right now and make love to you."

"Then what's stopping you," she whispered as she leaned up on her toes and covered his mouth.

* * *

Caleb walked into Livvie's room quietly, seeing she'd fallen asleep on the chaise lounge next to the fire that was slowing going out. She looked peaceful—as if she didn't have a care in the world. He remembered the first time he'd seen her and how he loved her at that moment—through everything they'd been through in the end that was the one thing he knew that was true and too strong for anyone to break.

He moved towards her and pushed her bangs out of her face, "I want to get through this and still have your love in my life. If that means saying goodbye to Tara later on then that's what I have to do. I've always loved you Olivia."

In her dreams Livvie could hear his words and replied to him out loud, "I've always loved you too Caleb."

A smile appeared on his face at hearing her say those words after what seemed like an eternity. He carefully picked her up and placed her in the bed, slipping in beside her and holding his wife tightly.

* * *

Rafe took his cell phone out and dialed the number—the bedroom light came on before she picked up the phone, "Hey—sorry I'm calling so late."

"Don't be—is everything ok?"

"Yeah, it's fine," he grinned as he opened the front door quietly and closed it behind him. "I miss you so much Alison—this has to be the longest we've been apart."

"I know—I wish I could just feel your arms around me right now."

"You can—close your eyes."

She smiled at what he was doing, "Ok, their closed."

"Now picture us in our special place—where all good things happen. What are we doing?"

"Dancing—we're dancing and you're holding me so tight I almost can't breathe, but I don't want you to let me go either."

"Ok," he said as he finished up the steps and opened the door softly before hanging up the phone. "What would you do if I were right in front of you right now?"

"I'd hold you just as tight," she said as she realized he hadn't asked that over the phone and opened her eyes to see Rafe standing in the doorway. "Rafe! Oh my God—you're here," she said as she jumped off the bed and went flying into his arms. "I've missed you so much."

"Me too, Angel. Me too."

* * *

"Caleb?" whispered Livvie as she rolled over and realized he was holding her in the bed.

"What is it, my love?" he asked softly as he touched her skin.

"I—thought I was dreaming," she said as she opened her eyes slowly and looked up at him.

"It's no dream, Olivia—I'm sorry for what I did to Tara and for what I've put you through. Can you forgive me?"

"Yes—I always have," she smiled. "I've missed you."

"Me too, but don't worry—I'm here and am never leaving your side again," he said as he rolled on top of her and began kissing her neck and down her body.

* * *

"I can't believe you're here," smiled Alison as she laid in Rafe's strong arms.

"It was something Caleb said tonight—he told me he was tired of not being next to his wife and I agreed with him."

"Is it over? Is everyone going to be happy?"

"From what I see, yes—but I still need to go back to Daia tomorrow—I told Caleb I would."

"You don't think he'll change his mind, will you?"

"He seemed pretty sure of himself tonight—he does have a conscience, he just doesn't use it all the time," he laughed and realized Alison had gotten quiet. "Ok, no more talking about a future we can't see yet—tonight is about you and me."

* * *

Jasmine walked into the house and took of her jacket and then turned to Jack, taking Noah out of his arms, "I knew we shouldn't have taken him to a late movie—he was half asleep before the previews were done."

"I know, but at least you enjoyed yourself. You seem calmer—is everything ok?"

"Yeah, I just had this huge amount of peace come over me—I didn't try to picture where or what anyone was doing—it just seems like it's going to be ok," she said as she tucked her son into his bed and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"I'm glad to hear it—even if I still don't like Caleb."

"Jack—no matter what universe we're in you'll still dislike him," she laughed as they went to their room and shut the door. "I forgot to check the messages."

"They'll be there in the morning," he said as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him before covering her mouth with his.

* * *

The camera scans every couple, whether in Port Charles, Daia, or Ireland—the last couple being Jack and Jasmine, fades out on them and then to their answering machine that is blinking with a message and then to black. 


	23. Chapter 23

_A/N: First—I can't believe I actually did this—this whole story started one day at the kitchen table with my friend Beth—I told her I had this crazy idea for an ending to all of my stories and she thought it was great—and I've written it and there's no turning back._

_Second—Some definitethank you's are needed:_

_A silent thank you to Beth—my unspoken co-author. If they yell at me I'm sending them to you for letting me write this._

_Gracie—thank you for being my pseudo-beta reader—and one day I'm going to go to NYC and tell 'you know who' to stop making that damn face. LOL!_

_Melody—what an Awian you are—you wrote the world's longest Rali story and now are finishing the Christmas story—I know there's a story after it and can't wait to read what else you have planned._

_Nat and Bethany—the MIAA's (Missing in Action Awian's)—you better get cracking on writing your stories—it's going to take a lot of updates to catch up to me, Gracie, and Melody._

_And everyone else that ever reviewed either this story or one of the others in this continuation of our little show that could, did, and still does in our hearts—your reviews got me through the tough chapters and moments and gave me ideas at times I hadn't even thought of (Christina and Danny's wedding was for you dodgebart—you asked for something more for them and I hope I delivered it well)_

_Ok, I'm getting off the Swordy acceptance speech bandwagon. Please don't hate me with the way I ended this—I agonized over the ending of this so much, and if you hate it that much I'll rewrite it—or maybe one day I'll write something else to "fix" what I'm about to do. There's no turning back, and you all have truly been the GREATEST EVER! PCGirl.

* * *

_

"Caleb?" called Livvie as she opened her eyes and reached for an empty side of the bed.

"I'm right here," he called behind her, buttoning up his shirt and getting ready for the day. He walked over and leaned in to give her a kiss, "I'm going to go bring breakfast up from Delia—I'll be back in a few."

Livvie sighed as she relaxed back into the pillows but a second later got up, threw on her robe, and went down the hall to Tara's room. She got to the door and saw it was cracked open—Caleb must have decided to tell her now instead of waiting until after breakfast. She smiled as she opened the door the rest of the way, but it fell when she saw the covers were rumpled at the end of the bed and the room was empty, "Tara? Caleb? Caleb!" she screamed as she went running out and onto the landing.

"What is it?" he said as he went running into the foyer.

"She's not here."

"That's impossible," he said as he came up the stairs and into her room.

"Do you think Rafe took her to the Springs now? I mean what if she's not strong enough?"

"No, he didn't—he went home to Alison last night, but said he'd be back this morning. He knew what I was going to do—he knew I was ok with it last night," he said as he looked around and saw a note on the table.

_Mom,_

_I decided I had to take my destiny into my own hands—I'll let you know when I find a safe place to stay afterwards. Tell Kate I'm sorry I yelled at her yesterday. I love you, Alex, and Miranda._

_Tara._

"Oh God, Caleb—we have to get to her," she said as the front door opened and she went to see Rafe standing in the foyer.

"You stay here," he said as he ran down the steps and to Rafe. "Watch Olivia—don't let her out of your sight."

"You want me to come with you?" he asked.

"No—this is my daughter and I'll take care of it, Slayer," he said as he grabbed a jacket and went running out towards the kitchen and then to the stables to saddle a horse up.

* * *

Jasmine rubbed her face as she walked into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. She poured her coffee and noticed the red light from the answering machine was blinking and pressed the play button, 

_You have 4 new messages._

_Jasmine—it's Cassandra, call me_

_Jazz—where are you? This is important—call me._

_Why aren't you picking up?_

The forth was a hang up, though Jasmine was sure it was from her sister also. She dialed the phone quickly and prayed Myra wouldn't answer, "Hello?"

"Cassandra—what's the problem?" asked Jasmine, her mind now wandering through all the possibilities that her sister would call her four times last night.

"I don't know—it started last night—I keep getting this loud humming in my ears and then I close my eyes and I see this white light coming towards me and then."

"And then what?" she snapped. "Sorry—then what?"

"Nothing—it's like there's nothing after the light."

"What do you mean by nothing?"

"That's not possible," she said as she went and sat down at the kitchen table. "Ok, close your eyes, Cass—what do you see?"

"I see that white light."

"No, before that—where is the location? Can you see anything?"

"I see—Caleb," she sighed as she finally saw something else.

"Good—is there anyone with him?"

"Uhm—it's either Tara or Livvie," she said as she concentrated harder. "It's Tara—he's trying to talk her out of something—I can't tell what it is though. And then—the light starts. This is big Jasmine—and it's going to change all our lives."

"I know," she said as she began feeling that whatever it was had already started.

* * *

Caleb whipped the reins again as he got closer to the springs and saw a second horse munching on the grass around the entrance. He jumped off his horse and went inside to see her staring at the edge and looking in, "Tara." 

She turned to look at him—her hazel eyes reminding him of her mother's when she was on the brink of doing something foolish and possibly deadly to others, "Don't—don't stop me."

"I don't want to stop you—I want you to be human again, whatever you want sweetheart, but you aren't strong enough for there yet."

"How do you know? You know nothing about me," she said as she inched closer.

"Please Tara, please listen to me."

"I want a normal life, Dad."

"And I'll give you one—I promise, whatever you want in the world, but let's just go home first and let you gain more energy."

"No," she said and shook her head. "You'll never let me go in there, it's now or never," she said and jumped in.

"Tara!" he screamed and went to the water's edge and waited for her to come back out, he grabbed her hand and pulled her up and out of the water—he felt her grab the ring and slip it off his finger before he could react.

* * *

Jasmine dialed quickly and tapped her nails as the phone rang. 

"Hello?"

"Livvie—is Rafe there?"

"Yeah, hold on," said Livvie as she handed the phone off. "It's Jasmine."

"Hey—is everything ok?"

"No, it's not. Cassandra is getting visions and now I'm starting to get them too—something big is about to happen Rafe and it's going to change our lives. I need you to get to Caleb—get to him and help him stop whatever is about to happen. Don't second guess me on this Rafe."

A pit fell in Rafe's gut as he heard the frantic pleading undertone of Jasmine's voice. "I'm not—I'm going now," he said as he handed Livvie back the phone and was out the door.

"What? What's going on? Where is Rafe going?" asked Livvie as she went into the hall and saw that Rafe was already gone.

"I don't know—I wish I did but I don't. I'll fix this Livvie—I promise with everything I have I will fix this."

Livvie felt calmness by the words Jasmine said to her, "I know you will. What can I do?"

"Hold Miranda tight and tell her you love her."

* * *

"I feel sorry for you Dad—you never are happy with what you have. You had the perfect life finally—two beautiful daughters, a son to follow in your footsteps, but that wasn't enough was it? Is it ever going to be enough for you?" 

"No, Tara you don't understand—now please hand me the ring," he said as he took a step closer to her.

"This one?" she giggled—a sound that normally warmed her father's heart to hear her do, but this time he wasn't smiling at her. "Where did you go wrong, Dad? Was it when your father had you turned? Yeah—same as me. I guess we have something in common after all. I wish you were happy."

"I am—I'm so very happy with what I have Tara."

"Then you'll understand why I have to do this."

"What?" asked Caleb as he heard a noise behind him and saw Rafe stopping at the entrance.

"I wish."

"Tara," said Caleb as he heard Rafe take a step closer.

"I wish you were never."

"Stop. You don't know what you are doing," said Caleb, who didn't even know what was about to happen. He turned back to look at Rafe—who had a look of uncertainty on his face.

"I wish you could have found happiness before dad. I wish you could have had the life you originally dreamt of. I wish you had never become a vampire."

Suddenly everything around Tara went black and both her father and Rafe disappeared. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she could see a small light in the distance about the size of a pin. It was coming towards her and the closer it got she kept hearing her family and friends saying things from times gone by.

_No Caleb—it can't be—Alison can't be pregnant with your child._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

___Do you have a fever? _

_I know what you need—muffins. _

_Are you sure we don't have a PTA meeting or something to go to? _

_And you could peel me like a ripe round succulent grape._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_You guys have to watch out for me up there—you do realize I'm the last of the original interns._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_I'll never work with a man like Joshua Temple ever again—at least not in this lifetime._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Oh, my dear Lucy. Don't be sad. I'm not. My life's work was healing people, and now I get to do it one more time. For you, Lucy. _

_Oh, Karen. You are my angel. My angel. _

_You're my girl Karen—you'll always be my girl._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_I want to say one thing before you do that. Caleb, I just found my mother. And you took her from me. And you turned her into something that I don't even recognize. You tried to get in between what Rafe and I have. You tried to destroy our love for each other. And I never thought that I would ever say this, but I hope that you rot in hell._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Stop staying that, Livvie. I don't want to leave a message. Something is very wrong. You have to be careful. Answer me, Livvie, please. _

_I wanted to show you guys this bracelet. It's very special. It was Rafe's mother's. It's my something old. _

_Truth be told, there's a lot of love in this world, but it's rare when it all falls into place._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_No, no, that can't be right. Please that would mean that you're there's that music. _

_Hello, Port Charles. I said hello, Port Charles! _

_Caleb Morley, you son of a bitch. _

_I'm Stephen Clay. _

_Mother, don't you know who you're sleeping with?_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Don't play me. I haven't forgotten how I wound up in this loony bin in the first place. What was that stuff you injected me with, anyway? That's some powerful stuff, could make a guy crazy. Oh, wait it did._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_I was just everything! All of it! It's all come back to me. I remember you. I remember me. I remember us us together before before. I I remember everything. I remember!_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_What word don't you understand? I can't find my father! I can't find him! He's gone, Rafe!_

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_I'm not going to let you fall. You're going to be safe. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promise you. Alison, I came back for you! Now you come back for me! Come back to me!_

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_Lucy? It's me. _

_Doc? Oh, my oh, my God. Oh. Oh! Oh, my God, it is you. It's really you. You're home. You're home! You're you're you're home!_

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_Two adults, one infant. Yeah, look at that. You got me a window seat. Always know I want to see where I'm going, don't you? I'm sorry. I was supposed to go with you to pick these up. Look how cold you are. That's a good thing we're going somewhere warm. Paradise, I think you called it. There you go. All right. Hey, you're so cold. _

_I can't fix this._

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_I love you. Sign me up for scuba lessons, would you? _

_I love you, Thornhart._

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_I came here an angel, blessed with an angel's powers. But I will leave here a man much more blessed by your love. People say, you know, that there's only angels in heaven, but i've been here and there and I know better. See, angels live in the hearts of those who dare to love. And how lucky am I to meet the most incredible angel of all. People spend forever searching and looking, on a journey to nowhere. And you know what? I guess that could've been me, except i found uou. And now I know that my journey began and is going to end with you. Alison Barrington, I promise that i will carry our love with me forever. We will be joined together as one for now and into eternity. _

_And I promise you, Rafe Kovich, to carry your love with me forever. My heart and soul now belongs to you from now through eternity._

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_I want you to promise me that you'll find someone who will love you as much as I do. Right now, you don't think that's possible, but I want you to promise me that you will search until you find happily ever after. _

_How can there be any happily ever after if you're not here in this world with me? _

_I love you, Chris. You will always be my prince._

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_Lucy, you taught me that life should be nothing less than a grand adventure, that there are always mountains to climb and mysteries to solve and new worlds to explore. And I cannot tell you how glad I am for that because you also taught me that opening my heart and listening to my soul is the key to being alive. And life with you is the grandest adventure of all._

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_So you're saying these couples, they have to be holding hands by the time the clock strikes midnight on Christmas eve or _

_Or they'll all lose their chance to have a future together. It's not going to come around again for them, son. It's now or never._

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_Evening, boys and girls. Ok. By show of hands, who missed me?_

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_Oh my God, you are! I can see it in your eyes! I know what you are now withwith the light and the miracles and the whole bringing-people-back-to-life thing. I know what you are. You're an angel._

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_Hi. Oh, goodness, that was a loud noise, wasn't it? Oh, it's ok. Yeah. Oh, it's ok. Mommy's not going to let anything happen to you. No, she's not. No. It's ok. Shh. Mommy's always going to watch over you. Yeah. Just like the stars. Look, Danny. There's your star. There it is. And it's there for you to wish upon any time you feel alone or scared. It's going to be ok. And if you wish enough and dream enough, all your wishes can come true._

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_Together, Olivia. Bound to each other through the ages. To come of your own free will. Both our souls tied in eternity, above and beyond death itself. A pact of blood mingling the warm essence of our love. We are one, everlasting. _

_Always. And forever yours._

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_I find comfort and refuge in your love. Now, I may make some mistakes along the way because we both know I'm not perfect. But I can promise you all of me, for better, for worse. And I will be by your side through the good times and the bad times and everything in between. And I promise to cherish you. I love you, now and for always. _

_And I see a woman that has taught me not to give up on love. And now for the first time in my life for the first time I have found a peace and a calm that I didn't know existed. I found it in you. Now I promise you that I will be the best husband, best father, the best man that I could possibly be, and I promise that I will love you and honor you with everything that is me, for now and for always._

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_Who am I? _

_You heard me. Answer me. _

_I'm your future. _

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_Yeah, it's a forest. Besides, I'm a little more afraid of the two-legged variety. _

As the last words passed her the light over took her and everything she knew of her life was gone.


End file.
